Meet the Ukrainian women with flourishing businesses in Scotland

When Catherine Stetskova came to Scotland in 2022 following the Russian invasion of her native Ukraine, her entrepreneurial spirit led her to consider starting her own business.

She spotted a gap in the market for a sushi restaurant serving food similar to what she was used to back home.

Ukrainian sushi relies more heavily on ingredients like cream cheese, alongside rich sauces and other non-traditional elements.

“In Ukraine, it’s the main takeaway,” Catherine explained to STV News.

“We don’t have much of a Chinese restaurant or an Indian restaurant, so that’s why we have a lot of sushi chefs, and sushi’s big in Ukraine.”

With war still raging back home, running her restaurant called “Minami” on Edinburgh’s West Register Street has helped keep Catherine focused.

“When you have full war in your home country, you’re in a kind of constant state of despair”, she explained.

“To me, it was very important to show other Ukrainians that we can live regardless of what is happening back in our home country.”

Catherine is one of a number of Ukrainian women who have opened businesses in Scotland.

In fact, there are so many that Anna Andriievska decided to launch UBWIS, which stands for Ukrainian Businesswomen in Scotland.

The group hosts events where members can showcase their companies, meet other entrepreneurs, share tips and collaborate.

Anna said: “It’s difficult when you don’t know the language, it’s difficult when you don’t know anybody here, it’s difficult because sometimes you don’t know the rules and the culture.

“But of course it’s very important to unite together.”

While many of the businesses involved with UBWIS were launched following the invasion in 2022, some Ukrainian businesswomen have been operating in Scotland for a lot longer.

Olena Davydovych runs several businesses, including “Mak” – a supermarket in Leith that sells Eastern European foods, mostly Ukrainian.

Olena Davydovych runs a supermarket in Leith. STV News

Olena has been in Scotland for more than two decades and has been a helpful aid for many of her fellow Ukrainians because of her experience.

“We brought a taste of home, lets say, to us here in Edinburgh,” she said.

“We are sharing experiences because many of them want to start something different, or many of them want to actually work together.”

So what makes Ukrainian women so successful at launching businesses in Scotland?

Olena puts it down to being “very resilient” and “tough”.

She explained: “You can see examples of this war, what’s happening, and how long we are still surviving there.

“All of us are doing our role, if we are here, we need to donate and support if we are not there on the frontline.”

Some hope to remain here long-term, others wish to return to Ukraine one day when the war is over. But for now, they’ve all made a home – and businesses – here in Scotland.