Today the economy, the portrait
Valentina Iousoupova, Ukrainian entrepreneur from Zhytomyr, refugee in Poland
Audio 04:19
Valentina Yusoupova, a refugee entrepreneur from Zhytomyr with her family in Poland.
© RFI/Agnieszka Kumor
By: Agnieszka Kumor
4 mins
Already more than 2.6 million Ukrainians have crossed the Polish border out of the 4.6 million who fled the war.
Among them, business leaders who have left everything behind.
A third of the companies had to cease their activity.
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Curly blond hair, pale complexion, features drawn by fatigue, it is in a café in Warsaw that she gives us an appointment.
Before the war, Valentina Iousoupova ran a temp agency with her husband in Zhytomyr, 130 km from Kiev: “
My husband is a lawyer.
He advises Polish companies wishing to set up in Ukraine.
In any case, he helped them with legal matters.
At the end of February, at the time of the Russian military maneuvers near the border, we were on business in Lviv.
»
Their life behind them
From the first hours of the invasion, Zhytomyr was bombarded.
Buildings, hospitals, but also the airport and the thermal power plant are destroyed.
“
You read this on your smartphone, but you don't understand.
We are still in the 21st century
!
she
exclaims.
Valentina, pregnant, her husband and their 7-year-old daughter then left Ukraine to come to Poland.
This energetic woman leaves her whole life behind.
Born 37 years ago in a small village of Dovbyshi, in the Zhytomyr region, Valentina is heiress of this Polish community which had, for centuries, shaped this part of western Ukraine.
Perfectly bilingual, she finished her psychology studies in 2008, but couldn't find a job.
She then signed with a Polish construction company.
Ukraine then saw a parliamentary crisis.
President Viktor Yushchenko, pro-European, opposes Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions and future pro-Russian president.
The country is unstable.
Some investors leave Ukraine, others return.
The temp agency
In 2014, it's war in Donbass.
Valentina is then already married and the mother of a little girl.
Evelina turns around the table where we are sitting and takes pictures with a smartphone.
His mother continues: “
We had wanted to create our own company for a while.
At the time, many Ukrainians were looking for work abroad.
They left their families and left in the hope of a better life.
Our temp agency offered work in Poland or the Czech Republic.
We mainly hired workers in the construction industry.
But also welders, in great demand in Germany.
»
The war put a stop to this flourishing activity.
Today, Valentina and her husband, Rustam, use their logistical experience to organize humanitarian aid convoys that transport parcels in minibuses to Zhytomyr.
Very invested, they mobilize their former service providers.
Valentina remains discreet about their personal situation, but she admits that they live on their savings.
Social assistance and access to care granted in Poland are essential for this woman who is about to give birth.
Stay in Poland or return home
?
Will they be able to resume their activity from Poland?
The Yusupovs remain very attached to their country, but doubt that their business can continue as before.
The idea would even be to sell everything and settle in Poland.
Their daughter talks every day on the phone with her great-grandfather left behind in Zhytomyr.
A World War II veteran, Zygmunt, 97, saw his entire family decimated by the Soviets, but refuses to leave his town.
Rustam is of Tatar and Polish origin.
Russian-speaking, he only speaks Ukrainian.
His wife nuance:
“
During the pro-European demonstrations of Maidan in 2014, we met many people who had different origins, like us.
I think the strength of Ukraine lies in its multicultural character”.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 700,000 people, out of more than 2.5 million who arrived in Poland, have decided to return.
And this despite the war that continues...
All of our daily, live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
© FMM Graphic Studio
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