How the Ukrainian Corrugated & Paper Industry Is Standing Through Wartime: A Presentation at FESPA 2026
At May FESPA Corrugated 2026 in Barcelona, Yuriy Bachurin, Operational Director, Paper Kite Holding, presented a practical case study – four years of operating under active war conditions that challenged the assumption that industry collapse was inevitable.
- +224% – increase in electricity costs over 4 years
- 65% – of working hours affected by power outages, autumn–winter 2025
- 6 million – people left the country - workforce and customers alike
- +2% – growth in corrugated packaging output in 2025 vs. 2024 (million m²)
This was not a crisis narrative. It was an operational case study – an account of what specifically allowed leading players in Ukraine's paper industry, and Paper Kite Holding in particular, to maintain and in some cases grow production volumes under conditions that, by standard business models, should have resulted in a full shutdown.
"Surviving under such extreme pressure is not luck. It is deliberate business preparation, scenario planning, product portfolio management, care for people, and the willingness to make difficult decisions at an early stage."
The presentation covered four levels: country, industry, company, and the personal dimension – family. The loss of two key corrugated plants to occupation. Mass migration of skilled labour. Systemic power supply disruptions that restructured operational schedules across the entire industry. And despite all of this - positive production dynamics.
The FESPA audience – leaders of the paper and corrugated industry from the EU and the US – confirmed the practical applicability of the approaches presented in their own operations, as tools for managing environmental pressures and minimising risk. Not as one-off crisis measures, but as a systemic operational logic.
Resilience Cup – FESPA Corrugated 2026. The award was presented to Paper Kite Holding CEO Oleg Pylypovych by Daniel Branton - in recognition of what the Ukrainian paper industry has achieved and endured.
Special thanks to Mr. Daniel Branton and the FESPA team for the platform provided. The Ukrainian experience is real and verified. It was earned the hard way – and validated by an international audience.
