Team TORQ In Ukraine Dreams Of A Brighter Future For All

A famous quote by the exemplary author Hellen Keller - “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it,” talks about how it’s very important to focus on the steps taken to overcome adversities in the face of crisis.

The conflict started in Ukraine almost seven months ago, a battle that changed the lives of millions of people overnight. Team TORQ was no exception, with Victor, our Country Head in Ukraine, and his team of five members, in the heart of where it all began, Kyiv. Before the conflict, our Team had a full-fledged office in the central area of Kyiv from which they would function. Victor's principal function at TORQ is general management, which includes both people and business management, both of which have been severely destroyed by the war. A significant portion of his day-to-day responsibilities includes ensuring solid working relationships with vendors and third-party service providers in order to assure business continuity. It is odd that Covid-19, which closed many offices throughout the world, had no effect on our business operations, and before the war, our staff was working from our Kyiv office. However, on the first day of the war, February 24th, operations at the office were forced to halt for the sake of our people's safety and well-being in the face of the incessant bombing.

After February 24th, our staff continued to work from their homes or the places they had to call home. The psychological shock that such a war might start almost out of nowhere in the twenty-first century was beyond anyone's comprehension. And everyone, whether a child or an elderly person, was in full disbelief at what was going on around them, a war that may break out between two brotherhood countries, Ukraine and Russia.

“On February 23rd, after a business trip to Dubai, I came home. While in Dubai I discussed the evolving political situation in Ukraine with our Directors, though even in my wildest dreams I never expected to be imagining a full-scale military conflict there. After all, the probability that I gave to a possibility of such a war was only 10%.

Then, on February 24th, everyone in Ukraine, including myself, awoke to a world that was suddenly unstable and terrible. In the space of a day, our hopes, dreams, and priorities shifted drastically.

After that day, nothing was more important than protecting our loved ones from the chaos of war, assisting the needy, fighting for our right to live freely in our own land, and holding on to faith that we will one day see a better tomorrow.

Watching my team go through immense mental stress, watching the fear of safety for their loved ones made me realize, the need of the hour is to ensure safety of my team members and help them move to place where they would feel safe was of primary importance. However, what was amazing was the urge to help anyone we came across even when there was and is constant shelling, nonstop rocket launches, some of them landing just 500 meters from our homes. Everyone had one thing in common: In the face of a broken world and terrible uncertainty, they found solace in assisting others and making a difference for Ukraine's future success. That’s what made us human.” – Said, Victor Khimchenko, Country Head, Ukraine

What does it do to you when you regularly see heavy artillery move in front of your eyes, hear, and see missiles hitting sites you would visit, and this is covered 24 hours a day, seven days a week on news channels? You suddenly understand that there is no way out of this dilemma. You learn to find out ways to better your situation, and that’s what our team at TORQ did. They attempted to relocate to safer locations to continue their work. Our team members worked from the safety of their cars while the rest of the world slept peacefully in the comfort of their homes. They continued working from wherever they could despite their relatives stuck in regions which were recognized as places of war crimes.

When Kyiv was surrounded from the east, west, and north, Victor himself left his home in the city's center and moved south. He relocated to his summer home in Kyiv's south and spent his nights in his car in the basement parking with his wife and 9-year-old kid, because staying in the building was risky. After spending 4-5 days in the underground parking, Victor and his family decided to leave their place since the Russian troop movement was quick and relocated to northern Kyiv.

“It is our choice to build a future and not hold on to the past. We want to be hopeful.”

Victor humbly stated that there was no work done during the first weeks following the war, but as the situation calmed, he decided to visit the TORQ headquarters in Central Park. "Despite the fact that it was a massive five-story structure, there wasn't a single soul in there.?It was deserted. The streets were nearly deserted, and it appeared that no life had been left behind. It was an extremely emotional experience for me to watch a lively area utterly empty of life. This is what war does: it robs everything of its life."

Team TORQ began functioning less than a month after the war began. Returning to work is a matter of survival; we must ensure that our families are fed and that they do not lose hope for a better future.

"Working is our fight for survival," Victor continues, "and I can't do it without thanking Asheesh, who has not only financially but also mentally supported us.?In times like these, having someone to speak to and having them believe in us that we would come back to normalcy is a great blessing. Many of our competitors ceased operations in Kyiv, but our management never considered or mentioned it. They allowed us some time, and we were determined to resume operations. Indeed, the conflict taught us to better our processes in every transaction; we discovered new trade routes, new customers, and financiers, we received reorders on our commodities, and we even extended our personnel. All of this was accomplished during a war, and it was only possible due of our people's resilience and dedication, as well as our management's trust. In this fast-changing new world, we are continuously inventing new methods to do business; war is not normal, but we must find our normal in order to survive the war."

“Help people around you. It comes back in unexpected ways. Give, and you will be given.”

The desire to serve others is influenced by those around us, and at TORQ, as Victor mentions, it was influenced by our management and his coworkers. He and his team were willing to take a risk to continue working because the organization opted to take a risk to continue its business operations in Ukraine at a time when everyone else was reconsidering their operations in Ukraine.

"We are in a strong position; we have learned a lot while conducting business through shelling and rocket launches when our traditional trade routes were damaged.?We know how to continue battling for our existence, and so we know the future is bright for all of us. Eventually, the conflict is going to end, and our competitors would find ways to do business in the new scenario, whereas we at TORQ would have already mastered it. This is what has set us apart from most of our competitors. We are ready to go strong; it is not only business for us; it is our right to fight for our survival."- Victor concludes as he signs off from his home office that he shares with his nine-year-old son, sitting in the background and taking his school lessons as lessons are conducted on-line because of rocket threats.

“WE are Resilient, and we are the Seeds of hope for our future generations.”

Victor Khymchenko, and his team members Iryna Martynenko, Mykola Fomenko, Piskur Vladimir, and Liliya Poshtovnyuk, have taught us one thing, accepting your new reality, even if it's not as good as the one you had before, is a sign of resilience. You can fight it or just scream about what you've lost, or you can accept it and try to make something good out of it. Our team stands together and, with every passing day, is getting stronger, better, and more resilient. We are TORQ, and these are our strengths.