Ministry of Economy: Kharkiv printing house publication showcased at EXPO-2025 in Japan, produced after its restoration
Ukraine’s national pavilion at the EXPO 2025 world exhibition in Osaka, Japan, presented a publication by Kharkiv’s “Faktor-Druk” printing house, produced following a russian missile strike on the facility on 23 May 2024. The printed work features stories of Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
It compiles 20 stories of Ukrainian businesses that, despite war, destruction, and relocation, continue to operate and create jobs in Ukraine. The featured businesses hail from Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Nikopol, Huliaipole, Kharkiv region, and other regions, demonstrating resilience daily.
“This publication, like Ukraine’s pavilion at EXPO 2025 as a whole, tells the world about our strength and values. Ukrainian businesses keep going despite extraordinarily challenging circumstances. ‘Faktor-Druk’ itself is a prime example of this resilience. We’re proud to share the stories of such Ukrainian entrepreneurs with a vast audience, as EXPO 2025 is expected to attract 23 million visitors this year,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy.
The publication is one of the first products “Faktor-Druk” fully produced in-house after part of its operations was destroyed. The first edition was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos. A second, expanded edition, created specifically for EXPO 2025, was developed in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine.
Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, noted that each story in the publication featured real individuals encountered in Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, and Huliaipole, who had reconstructed printing houses after shelling, sown fields despite risks, and launched new businesses in different cities. He emphasised that this represented more than entrepreneurship – it was a model of resilience inspiring the global community. He further expressed that, alongside partners, there was pride in supporting those fostering an economy grounded in freedom, dignity, and mutual support – an economy resilient enough to endure the most severe challenges and form the basis for recovery.
The story of “Faktor-Druk” exemplifies true Ukrainian resilience. Before the full-scale invasion, the printing house was one of Ukraine’s largest, producing up to 40% of the country’s school textbooks, as well as children’s, fiction, and specialised literature. It operated a full production cycle, but after the destruction of its binding workshop, it could only handle part of the process. By early 2025, however, “Faktor-Druk” had fully resumed operations, with support from American philanthropist Howard Buffett.