Rebuilding Ukraine: Integrity, business, and the hard trade-offs

In this episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, we step into a different kind of conversation – grounded in new research – to explore what integrity looks like for businesses navigating Ukraine’s path toward reconstruction. Drawing on the report Leveraging Integrity for Ukraine’s Reconstruction: The Role of Ethical Businesses by researcher Sofiia Sapihura, the conversation reflects on how companies are embedding compliance and ethical practices amid war, uncertainty, and rapid change.Based on insights from 118 Ukrainian businesses and in-depth interviews, the episode sits with a complex reality: integrity can build resilience, trust, and long-term value – yet it can also come with real trade-offs, from lost contracts to slower processes in environments shaped by informality and uneven enforcement. From construction risks to the role of donors, incentives, and collective action, the discussion asks what it will take to make integrity not just a moral aspiration, but a practical and sustainable choice.