Keywords
small and medium-sized enterprises sector
enterprise economic potential
development
digital transformation
state support
resilience
How to Cite
Abstract
The article focuses on the role of the entrepreneurial sector in full-scale war and post-crisis recovery, and on the development of mechanisms to activate it. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current state of entrepreneurship, identify the challenges it faces, and systematize existing support mechanisms for small and medium-sized enterprises. The article defines the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in contributing to GDP growth, providing employment, and maintaining the country’s economic resilience amid deep structural shocks. The scale of losses and destruction in the entrepreneurial sector, caused by hostilities, disruptions to production and logistics chains, energy instability, and declining effective demand, is examined. It is substantiated that the combined impact of military, institutional, and market factors has shaped a multidimensional operating environment for small and medium-sized enterprises, characterized by the coexistence of financial, human resource, infrastructural, regulatory, and socio-psychological challenges. The most affected sectors of the economy and the key points of their vulnerability are systematized, and the consequences of destructive processes for the financial sustainability and managerial capacity of enterprises are analyzed. It is revealed that, despite significant losses, a portion of small and medium-sized enterprises has demonstrated the ability to adapt through product diversification, business process optimization, and the active adoption of digital technologies. The analysis of practical business cases enabled the identification of the effectiveness of combining digital management tools, accounting automation, and strategic diversification as mechanisms for maintaining operational resilience under high-risk conditions. It has been determined that, to support the small and medium-sized enterprises sector in Ukraine, a national strategy for recovery, sustainable development, and digital transformation has been adopted at the state level. The implementation of its key directions (financial support, innovative and digital development, human capital development, and expansion of export potential) will form a comprehensive model for activating the entrepreneurial sector in conditions of wartime and post-crisis development. Systemic synchronization of public policy, digital transformation, and institutional reforms is a decisive prerequisite for enhancing the resilience and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine.
References
1. Andriienko, D., et al. (2025). Zvit pro priami zbytky infrastruktury vid ruinuvan vnaslidok viiskovoi ahresii rosii proty Ukrainy stanom na lystopad 2024 roku [Report on direct infrastructure damages caused by Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine as of November 2024]. Kyiv School of Economics. https://kse.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/KSE_Damages_Report-November-2024-UA.pdf (in Ukrainian)
2. Biotechnological University. (2025). Zustrich zi steikkholderom – TOV “Kharkivskyi molochnyi kombinat” [Meeting with stakeholder – LLC “Kharkiv Dairy Plant”]. https://biotechuniv.edu.ua/novyny-fakultetu-pererobnyh-i-harchovyh-vyrobnytstv/news-kaf-xtppom/zustrich-zi-stejkholderom-tov-harkivskyj-molochnyj-kombinat/ (in Ukrainian)
3. Demianyk, D. (2025). Vid viiny v Ukraini naibil’she postrazhdaly metalurhy ta ahrarii – doslidzhennia [Metallurgy and agriculture suffered the most from the war in Ukraine – study]. Informatsiine ahentstvo “Hlavkom” – News Agency “Glavcom”. https://glavcom.ua/economics/finances/vid-vijni-v-ukrajini-najbilshe-postrazhdali-metalurhi-ta-ahrariji-doslidzhennja--1041786.html (in Ukrainian)
4. Ilchuk, M. (2025). Financial and economic instruments for optimizing the competitive potential of SMEs in Volyn region. Academic Visions, (47). https://academy-vision.org/index.php/av/article/view/2164
5. Konstantynovskyi, L. (2025). Transformatsiia MSP v Ukraini za danymy 2021 i 2024 rokiv [Transformation of SMEs in Ukraine based on 2021 and 2024 data]. Yevropeiskyi naukovyi zhurnal Ekonomichnykh ta Finansovykh innovatsii – European Scientific Journal of Economic and Financial Innovations, 4(18), 522–539. https://journal.eae.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/646 (in Ukrainian)
6. Korohod, O. (2025). Current dynamics and obstacles facing small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine amidst the war. Journal of Information Systems Engineering and Management, 10(9), 10–23. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i9s.1132
7. Levchynskyi, D., Stupniker, H., Kashyrnikova, I., & Zozulia, N. (2022). Pidpryiemnytstvo Ukrainy v umovakh voiennoho stanu [Entrepreneurship in Ukraine under martial law]. Ekonomichnyi prostir – Economic Space, (181), 110–114. https://doi.org/10.32782/2224-6282/181-19 (in Ukrainian)
8. Loiko, V., & Aleksandrov, B. (2023). Support and development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine during the war. European Scientific Journal of Economic and Financial Innovations, 1(11), 228–237. https://doi.org/10.32750/2023-0119
9. Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine. (2023). Stratehiia vidnovlennia, staloho rozvytku ta tsyfrovoi transformatsii maloho i serednoho pidpryiemnytstva na period do 2027 roku [Strategy for recovery, sustainable development and digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises until 2027]. https://me.gov.ua/Documents/List?lang=uk-UA&id=0ebdac49-bc88-4815-910e-dc6ce0685811 (in Ukrainian)
10. Murovana, T. (2023). Vitchyzniane pidpryiemnytstvo v umovakh voiennoho stanu: osnovni tendentsii ta metody pidtrymky [Domestic entrepreneurship under martial law: Main trends and support mechanisms]. Ekonomika ta suspilstvo – Economy and Society, (47). https://doi.org/10.32782/2524-0072/2023-47-49 (in Ukrainian)
11. Rudyk, O. (2024). Diialnist malykh pidpryiemstv u period povnomasshtabnoho vtorhnennia u konteksti vidnovlennia terytorialnykh hromad [Activities of small enterprises during the full-scale invasion in the context of territorial community recovery]. Ekonomika: realii chasu – Economics: Time Realities, 6(76), 87–95. https://doi.org/10.15276/ETR.06.2024.9 (in Ukrainian)
12. State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (2025). Kilkist diiuchykh pidpryiemstv za vydamy ekonomichnoi diialnosti z rozpodilom na velyki, seredni, mali ta mikropidpryiemstva (2010–2024) [Number of active enterprises by type of economic activity, by size (2010–2024)]. https://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2022/fin/fin_new/Kp_kved_10_21.xlsx (in Ukrainian)
13. State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (2025). Kilkist zainiaktykh pratsivnykiv na pidpryiemstvakh za vydamy ekonomichnoi diialnosti z rozpodilom na velyki, seredni, mali ta mikropidpryiemstva (2010–2024) [Number of employed persons by enterprise size and economic activity (2010–2024)]. https://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2022/fin/fin_new/Kzp_kved_10_21.xlsx (in Ukrainian)
14. Tsymbala, A. (2025). Resilience of Ukraine’s small and medium businesses amid the war: Challenges, policy, and the future. VoxUkraine. https://voxukraine.org/en/resilience-of-ukraine-s-small-and-medium-businesses-amid-the-war-challenges-policy-and-the-future
15. United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine. (2024). Assessment of the impact of the war on micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine. Kyiv. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2024-02/undp-ua-assessment-war-impact-enterprises-ukraine.pdf
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Oleksandr Dorofyeyev, Tetiana Vlasenko, Valerii Dolia, Andrii Dorohan