The making of KYIV RYSING

While Kyiv was under attack and in danger of falling in late February, Nicolai Kiskalt, the charismatic CEO of Kyiv Consulting was a man on a mission. Vladimir Putin had invaded Ukraine, and everything Kiskalt and his team of 130-strong management consultants had painstakingly built-up in Ukraine from scratch since 2018 was suddenly in immediate danger of being destroyed by Russia.

The well-being and safety of his colleagues and their families in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine was Kiskalt’s initial top priority. Kyiv Consulting as a business could wait; its most important assets – its employees, could not. They were now in harm’s way – and Putin’s invading military forces were rapidly approaching Kyiv.

Prior to February 24^th, this was all theoretical. Then, it became reality – and amidst air raid sirens and bombs exploding, Kiskalt and his Kyiv Consulting Leadership Team began pulling off the impossible. Evacuating staff to safety, relocating 80 colleagues and their families in five waves to Krefeld, Germany – and providing for the security and well-being of the 50 employees who elected to remain in Ukraine.

His staff provided for and already collectively back at work – mere days after the invasion – addressing the urgent business needs of Kyiv Consulting’s clientele, Kiskalt allowed himself to become angry – and then resolved. The CEO had witnessed firsthand what many of his colleagues described as ‘the scariest day” of their lives. Kiskalt absorbed their fear, shared their disbelief, and accepted the reality that Kyiv Consulting and its employees were now at war.

Kiskalt, like many other CEOs operating in Ukraine, knew he was going to have to reimagine and reinvent his business. Kiskalt, however, was beginning to contemplate something far more ambitious and far-reaching than just Kyiv Consulting. He was starting to reimagine how Kyiv could ‘ryse’ again if it fell.

Then Ukraine shocked the world by winning ‘The Battle of Kyiv.’ Putin’s forces reeling under withering assault by Ukraine’s military were forced to withdraw to Belarus. David was chasing Goliath – and a superpower badly beaten and hiding behind terms such as ‘tactical withdraw’ and ‘large-scale repositioning’ was in no uncertain terms retreating.

More Ukrainian victories followed, including the sinking of Russia’s Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, and as the United States, NATO, and the European Union began to realize Ukraine could – indeed, would – survive, Kiskalt began to think even bigger – envisioning how Kyiv’s war-torn economy could ‘ryse’ again after the defeat of Russia. It was in these early victories that the genesis of KYIV RYSING in its current form was born – inspired by Ukrainian resilience and infused with the ’can-do’ spirit of what historians surely will call Ukraine’s ‘greatest generation.’

Kiskalt then seized and capitalized upon what he was learning in his interactions with colleagues around the world on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. He was by engaging and sharing his firsthand personal accounts of what was happening in Ukraine, only to realize he was giving voice to Ukraine’s fight to preserve the country’s independence and territorial integrity. 

If Kiskalt could give voice to Ukraine’s ‘Present’ in his now 5 million and counting reach across social media, then why, he pondered, couldn’t KYIV RYSING give voice to Ukraine’s ‘Past,’ ‘Present’ and ‘Future’ utilizing Ukrainian voices on a platform of Kyiv Consulting’s own design and making?

KYIV RYSING, as a concept, was then nearly fully born – but with one more twist to come. Kiskalt insisted it had to be completed by Kyiv Consulting on a pro bono basis. Already charitable in his donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and supportive of his Ukrainian staff by his frequent visits to Kyiv since February – Kiskalt was determined that KYIV RYSING would be Kyiv Consulting’s endowment to the people of Ukraine and a down payment on the country’s economic future and redevelopment. 

Mission in hand, 130 consultants and 60+ subject-matter experts then set about creating a four-month in the making 425-page e-book. 360-degrees in perspective, packed with verified data and facts, and containing over 100+ interviews with subject matter experts – including General David Petraeus, U.S. Army, Retired – KYIV RYSING is the most comprehensive, objective and exhaustive up-to-date study of Ukraine. KYIV RYSING, significantly, met – indeed, succeeded – Kiskalt’s non-negotiable demand that it be of a Ukrainian-centric voice written as an invitation for the global investment community to ‘RYSE WITH US.’

Kiskalt intentionally and symbolically decided upon October 14^th – Ukrainian Defenders Day – to officially launch KYIV RYSING. The date was not only chosen as a message to Moscow, but it was also directed to the global investment community. Ukrainians are fighting and dying in this war to ensure the survival of the nation. Consequently, it must be Ukrainian voices who first articulate their vision of Ukraine’s future to ensure Kyiv also wins the peace.

Leading global professional services firms such as McKinsey, Roland Berger, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and others will have, undoubtedly, important roles in fueling Ukraine’s future. But it is Kyiv Consulting that is leading the way for Kyiv – and for Ukraine. KYIV RYSING wasn’t conceived, compiled, written, nor released from the safety of London, Brussels, Washington or New York. It was completed and assembled in Krefeld and in Kyiv at its offices off Kontraktova Square – often at times in air raid shelters – and its authenticity and on-the-ground research amidst an ongoing war is unmatched.

Kyiv is the epicenter of KYIV RYSING and this uniquely Ukrainian story and the investment opportunities that Ukraine will present in its post-war recovery and redevelopment could only be told by Kyiv Consulting and the 130 management consultants who have lived, breathed, and risked their lives to write and share this eBook on a pro bono basis with the world.

Ukraine’s recovery will require a commitment substantially larger than the Marshall Plan after the end of World War II. The task of rebuilding and redeveloping Ukraine will be monumental. KYIV RYSING estimates that recovery will exceed 750 Bn US Dollars. Whether you are an American citizen in St. Louis or German citizen in Berlin or a Ukrainian citizen on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, you can be a part of Ukraine’s future and your path to doing so begins by reading or downloading KYIV RYSING here at no fee or cost.

By exploring and reading KYIV RYSING in-depth, you will find all the pressing questions and answers relating to Ukraine’s Past and Present, alongside a realistic assessment of its Future economic redevelopment driven by data, forecasts, and predictions – and accompanied by compelling insights from prominent Ukrainian and global opinion leaders and influencers.