Researchers at KSE Business School, Yuliia Shtaltovna and Killian McCarthy, have proposed a granular approach to assessing business risks in Ukraine at the city level. They presented their research at the 12th Annual Conference of the Central and Eastern Europe Chapter of the Academy of International Business (AIB-CEE). The conference took place September 21-23, 2026, at Poznań University of Economics and Business.
The research presentation "Cities as Sites of Business Resilience in Times of Extreme Crisis" was delivered as part of the "Geopolitical Risks, Sanctions, and Business Resilience" track at AIB-CEE 2026. Dr. Yuliya Shtaltovna, Research Professor at KSE Business School, presented the team's findings for the first time.

The authors analyzed seven cities across five dimensions: security, infrastructure governance and continuity, digital connectivity, local business ecosystems, and economic resilience. This analysis helps international companies make more precise decisions about business continuity, internal relocation, market exit, and re-entry. It also identifies where collaboration and reconstruction can take shape and develop while the war continues.
The research team includes Yuliia Shtaltovna, Research Professor at KSE Business School and Hochschule Fresenius; Killian McCarthy, Professor at KSE Business School and head of the ScaleUA project at Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University; and Olha Pysmenna, a ScaleUA researcher at Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University.
This was KSE Business School’s second participation in AIB-CEE. Last year in Bratislava, Yuliia presented an analysis of more than ten case studies examining how international companies address the challenges and risks posed by Russia’s war in Ukraine. These cases can also be used by international business schools in their teaching.