From Lviv to Rome, and Back

The First Taste of Magic. Born in Ukraine and raised in Italy, Alex had returned once a year, for a week at most. At EURO 2012 he saw a whole country from “under the hood” — new stadiums, renovated airports, a palpable energy — and kept postponing his return flight. (Chapter 2)

Validating without owning. After Ukraine–San Marino, Alex polls Ukrainians in Italy: “If Okean Elzy gave a concert, which city would you go to?” The band later plays its first Italian concert, in Rome, sold out — and the experiment brings Mark, his partner in almost everything since. On 16 August 2013 he sends BlaBlaCar a proposal: “We are not interested in the Ukrainian market.” The reply gets framed. (Chapter 2)

The night he decided to stay. From one in the morning until five, the bells of St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery ring while the Berkut try to clear Maidan. The last time they had rung the alarm in the night was in 1240, before Batu Khan’s horde. “There was no single moment when I decided to stay in Ukraine. But if I had to point to one, it would be that.” (Chapter 3)

Back to the Roots. Peaks of a million people in Independence Square, at −15 to −20°C. Everyone asks: “Everyone’s leaving, and you’re going back?” A friend asks a better question: “What do you need Ukraine for?” The answer, weeks later: “We create borders in our own heads.” (Chapter 3)

“Are you sure you’re taking it? It’s in terrible shape…” “It’s perfect.” Inspired by H-Farm in the Veneto, the factory becomes OK Factory, with an LED sign on the main wall: “Everything Will Be OK”. The first coworker, James from Australia, walks in among half-painted walls; Jira the cat becomes Senior Kat Advisor; Knut, a Norwegian writing his book there, plants the seed of this one. (Chapter 4)

“The Crazy Guys From Ukraine.” Financed by a Minecraft co-founder and led by former Armani management, Ernest Airlines connects Ukraine with Western Europe. Alex’s team runs most of its local non-flight operations: gate parties for every inaugural flight, a saxophonist on the first flight to Ibiza, the aviation partnership with Leopolis Jazz Fest in year three, the one-millionth passenger, a patented smart baggage sizer. (Chapter 5)

Rising from the Ashes. “Save what can be saved and keep operations going by any means possible.” People are the only asset that appreciates in hard times. A partnership with a Ukrainian clothing brand opens its first sales in the US and Europe. Bounce forward. (Chapters 5 and 7)

From facilitation to marketplace. The phone rings: +1, Canada. Thanks to Andrii, a Ukrainian living there — the first UAmbassador ante litteram — thousands of units of disposable medical clothing fly to Canada. As orders exceed capacity, they are shared with other producers: without planning it, the first prototype of the Faktorist B2B marketplace. (Chapters 7 and 13)

A hotel terrace over the ocean. John, an English investor, hears about a platform connecting Ukrainian producers with international markets and says three words that change the scale of everything. On 22 February, Alex flies Kraków–Lviv — the last civilian flight into Ukraine. (Chapters 8 and 11)

War-Life-Balance. Explosions on the horizon, the roar of aircraft, a phone flooded with messages — and a first thought: the romantic weekend in Rome planned for 8 March. Not out of naivety, but by deliberate choice, the team keeps building. Three pillars emerge: infrastructural, emotional and strategic resilience. (Preface and Chapter 11)

Going all in. Exports bring in foreign currency, and foreign currency is pure oxygen for an economy at war. The war removes the luxury of postponing: a marketplace bringing together Ukrainian exporters and products. Since that A4 sheet, in broad terms, practically nothing has changed — only scaling and optimizing. (Chapters 8 and 11)

Strategic resilience. Volodymyr’s textile factory organizes night shifts to fill an order for a foreign client, Lukas: “It’s strange at first, waking up at half past three in the morning to go to the factory. But you get used to it. And above all, it works.” Lukas: “It’s a demonstration of resilience that none of my suppliers in Europe could match.” (Chapter 11)

From nightclub to center of economic resistance. Full from the very first day. Team meet in the morning, a diavola pizza at lunch, the generator topped up during blackouts, BBQ and wine on Fridays. BRAVE becomes the incubator where Faktorist takes its full form: the marketplace, the AI assistant, the UAmbassadors. (Chapter 10)

Leaving a country at war to present its future. The first public presentation of Faktorist before an international audience of this caliber. In Berlin, Alex meets Viktoria, a Ukrainian artist who fled war twice — Donetsk in 2014, again in 2022. “Creativity is the only thing they can’t take away from you.” Three months earlier, in March 2023, his childhood friend Oleg fell at Bakhmut. (Chapters 10 and 11)

All roads lead to Rome. More than a decade after the one-way Rome–Kyiv flight, the circle closes at the URC in the Eternal City. The book stops at the best part — the moment of Faktorist’s global launch. The eBook is out on Amazon since 28 September 2026, the official launch is on 13 October 2026, and Chapter 16 keeps writing itself online. (Conclusion)