Earlier this week, an image went viral in Ukraine. It features a dark and apocalyptic image of Kyiv, with a burning shopping and entertainment centre near Lukianivska metro station in Kyiv engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky — the result of Russia’s massive missile strike on Kyiv on May 24.
At the forefront of the image is a rider on an electric scooter, wearing the distinctive yellow Glovo food-delivery backpack. Rest assured, the delivery rider, Vladyslav, wasn’t working at the time – he was, in fact, going to meet a friend at the train station — but it offers a stark snapshot of the reality of running a delivery service business during wartime.
In Kyiv, like the rest of Ukraine, life goes on. Shops, cafes, and restaurants are open, and meals, groceries, pharma, and flowers are ordered and delivered at a rapid pace.
And critical to that success is Glovo, with Ukraine becoming one of the company’s top five global markets in just a few years as business as usual persists despite the challenges of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
I sat down with Maryna Pavliuk, GM of Glovo Ukraine, on a recent trip to Kyiv to learn more.
