Oleg Chykyda is a Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, co-owner and CEO of the ZPEK group of companies. In his work, he consistently builds business at the intersection of the Ukrainian and European markets, treating economic integration not as an abstract political goal but as a practical reality in which his companies already operate today.
The integration of the Ukrainian and European markets is a process that unfolds at the level of specific agreements, routes, and partnerships. Oleg Chykyda sees this integration from the inside: ZPEK works daily with Polish and Lithuanian partners, EU customs procedures, cross-border rail routes, and quality standards that meet the requirements of the European market.
It is precisely this hands-on experience that shapes the entrepreneur’s conviction that Ukraine and Europe have long ceased to be two separate economic spaces. They are parts of a single supply chain, a single logistics route, and a single investment environment.
For entrepreneurs who, like Oleg Chykyda, build businesses in wartime conditions, this integration is not only an economic opportunity but also a matter of survival. It was access to European resources, partners, and markets that allowed Ukrainian businesses to stay afloat at a moment when former suppliers vanished and logistics routes had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Energy as a point where interests converge
Ukraine’s fuel market has become one of the most telling examples of what real integration with Europe looks like. Before 2022, Ukraine depended on supplies from Russia and Belarus. After the full-scale war began, that dependence disappeared within a matter of months, and new routes took its place — through Poland, Lithuania, and the terminals of the Baltic coast.
Under Oleg Chykyda’s leadership, ZPEK actively built these new routes. Partnerships with ORLEN, UNIMOT, and VITOL are part of a broad reorientation of Ukraine’s energy market toward European suppliers and European standards.
In Oleg Chykyda’s view, the energy integration of Ukraine and the EU is a strategic priority that reaches far beyond current wartime needs. Diversifying supply sources, developing storage and transport infrastructure, and synchronizing quality standards create the foundation for Ukraine’s long-term energy independence within a single European energy space.
Logistics as the foundation of partnership
Oleg Chykyda is convinced that genuine economic partnership between Ukraine and the EU begins with logistics. Not with declarations of intent, not with memoranda, but with concrete infrastructure that allows goods, resources, and capital to move freely across the border.
ZPEK’s experience shows just how difficult — and at the same time promising — this path is. Rail imports across the Polish-Ukrainian border, work with terminals in Szczecin and Liepāja, and the development of routes through Chop and Vadul-Siret are practical steps toward real logistical integration. Establishing each of these routes required both time and resources.
In a broader context, the logistical integration of Ukraine and the EU is critically important both for the country’s wartime resilience and for its postwar recovery. Ukraine has a unique geographic position — a transit corridor between East and West which, given sufficient infrastructure development, could become one of Europe’s key logistics hubs.
Oleg Chykyda’s biography
Born in the settlement of Liubeshiv, Volyn region, into a family of teachers. He graduated from the law faculty of Lesya Ukrainka Volyn State University.
He began his entrepreneurial career in the early 2000s, moving from retail trade through positions in large corporate structures to independently building businesses across several industries. Key milestones include:
- Work at the Kontinium group and on the team managing the assets of UkrLandfarming and Avangard
- His own retail chain in the Volyn region
- A timber-processing business with more than 1,200 employees
- Production of industrial chemicals and disinfectants within Trademark Group.
Since 2022, Oleg Chykyda has been co-owner and CEO of the ZPEK group of companies, which in 2025 entered the top 10 diesel fuel importers in Ukraine and the top 5 suppliers by rail transport. He is an active participant in industry forums and conferences and an advocate of open dialogue between Ukrainian business and international partners on the development of strategic markets.
International investment and trust in Ukraine
Attracting international investment to Ukraine during wartime seems like a paradoxical task. But Oleg Chykyda sees an opportunity in it. Investors who enter Ukraine now, under conditions of the highest risk, secure a firm market position ahead of the saturated competition of the future.
Oleg Chykyda’s own experience confirms this logic. ZPEK was founded in 2022, at a moment of maximum uncertainty. That is precisely why, by 2025, the company was able to enter the top 10 diesel fuel importers in Ukraine. Those who stayed and kept building gained positions that today could not be replicated without years of work.
Economic partnership as a strategic choice
Oleg Chykyda views economic partnership between Ukraine and the EU not as a forced consequence of the war, but as a strategic choice that serves the long-term interests of both sides. A strong Ukraine needs access to European markets, technologies, and standards. A strong Europe needs a reliable eastern partner with a large market, agricultural potential, and a strategic location.
This interdependence is already reflected in concrete figures. Trade volumes between Ukraine and EU countries have grown substantially since 2022, despite wartime conditions. New logistics routes, new partnerships, and new standards are laying the groundwork for deeper integration that will continue to develop regardless of when the active phase of the war ends.
For entrepreneurs like Oleg Chykyda, who are already building businesses at this intersection, it means one thing: the futures of Ukraine and Europe are far more tightly bound together than they appear from the outside.