Kramatorsk enterprise resumes operations in Kyiv region, employing displaced people with disabilities
Before the full-scale invasion, the Kramatorsk enterprise had employed nearly 50 people with visual impairments.
Following a Russian missile strike, production in Kramatorsk ceased, leaving part of the equipment behind in the Donetsk region and forcing employees to flee. Finding new employment posed a particular challenge for displaced people with disabilities.
In 2024, the enterprise relocated to Yahotyn in the Kyiv region, reviving operations on the grounds of an old factory that had sat idle for over 20 years.
The team repaired the premises and connected the utilities at their own expense, incurring over 2 million hryvnias in costs. To help restore production, USAID provided a 500,000-US-dollar grant for equipment.
The enterprise manufactures corrugated cardboard and packaging boxes through a full-cycle production process. Output currently ranges from approximately 230,000 to 245,000 square meters of products per month, compared to around 50,000 square meters in Kramatorsk before the full-scale war.
Beyond employing individuals with disabilities and displaced workers, the enterprise partially covers employees' transportation costs and, when necessary, housing rentals.
The facility currently stands ready to hire four to five additional employees, prioritizing displaced people, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.
Photo source: Eastern Variant
The primary challenge currently facing the facility is a lack of heating. Last winter, due to freezing temperatures and prolonged power outages, staff worked several short shifts a day whenever electricity became available.
The enterprise has prepared a technical heating project and ordered equipment, but it continues to raise funds to install the necessary utilities.
The experience of the Kramatorsk enterprise demonstrates how relocating a social enterprise can simultaneously preserve production and safeguard jobs for people who face significant hurdles securing employment after forced displacement.
- Last
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- September, 24
-
News by day
25 of September 2026
