“Personal sanctions against the Holding’s beneficiaries should not affect the operations of a company that can produce gas for Ukraine at a time of severe wartime shortages, nor should they impact the livelihoods of thousands of employees,” Ivan Herasymovych stated during a live broadcast of “Business Breakfast” with Volodymyr Fedorin.

Yesterday, the CEO of Smart Holding, Ivan Gerasymovych, took part in “Business Breakfast”, where he discussed the key challenges and future prospects of the company amid the war and the state’s unjustified sanctions policy.

During the interview, we covered:

• How Smart Holding is adapting to wartime realities and ensuring the stability of its businesses.
• The impact of personal state sanctions against former and current beneficiaries of the company and their effect on the group’s gas production business and Ukraine’s energy security.
• The company’s future development prospects, relations with investors, and restructuring due to declining profitability.

Before the full-scale war, Smart Holding employed around 4,500 people. Today, that number has dropped to 1,500, and all of them risk losing their jobs unless the government revisits its sanctions policy.

Over three years of full-scale war, the Holding’s net revenue has fallen from UAH 8 billion to UAH 3 billion. In 2024, only the gas production business, Smart Energy, remained profitable—unlike the Holding’s five other companies. This was primarily due to a few months in 2024 when a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) corrective decision temporarily lifted restrictions, allowing the company to resume gas production.

Between two shutdowns of production in 2024, the company managed to extract 96 million cubic meters of gas.

But today, operations are halted once again—bringing more losses for both the business and Ukraine’s economy.
Watch the full interview