Ukrainian refugee expands her seafood restaurant chain in Moldova and Romania
Olga Kopylova, a 40-year-old Ukrainian restauranteur (and now refugee), first expanded her chain of sea cuisine-centered restaurants from Ukraine to Romania, in the seaside city of Constanta, and has now opened a Chernomorka restaurant in Chisinau, Moldova, all during wartime.
Her story was written about in the Financial Times by journalist Paula Erizanu.
"Located in a food hall, the place is full of people. The staff is mostly Ukrainian refugees; guests are both locals and Ukrainians. Beach umbrellas and sun loungers point to the entrance," journalist Paula Erizanu writes, quoted by Libertatea.
The menu features mussels, prawns, sepia, calamari, and over ten types of fish, served in a variety of hot or cold dishes, with a traditional Ukrainian flair.
The restaurant is staffed mainly by Ukrainian refugees: former teachers, IT specialists, and engineers, whom Kopylova is trying to offer an island of normality until the war is over.
The team relies on money from European investors, as well as Ukrainian expats. "People support us because they want to help Ukraine," says Kopylova.
While Olga Kopylova focused on expanding her Ukrainian restaurant chain into Moldova and Romania since the war began, she has also targeted markets in Poland and Germany.
"And she doesn't want to stop there," writes Libertatea. "She's planning a new project named Kozy or Goat Town, in the village of Pohrebea, 35 km from Chisinau, where she wants to build a theme park with its own post office, currency, and town hall."
In fact, Pohrebea is already a full-fledged construction site. "It's like a country within a country," says the founder, showing the journalist where the goat beauty parlor, sports stadium, police station, Chernomorka restaurant, and glamping site will open in the autumn.
When the war started, Olga had a "goat paradise" in Míkolaivka, where she had collected 140 goats.
She recounts how it all started: "At a Chernomorka opening there, I saw a beautiful goat on a hill and thought it would be nice to have a goat in the restaurant to roam around. Then I found him a friend.”
40 of these goats will soon arrive in Pohrebea, to populate the theme park.
The article also covers Kopylova’s humble beginnings: "I arrived in Kyiv with two hryvnias (less than a cent) and a child," she says.
In 2004 she was working as a waitress. From there, she worked her way up to restaurant manager. Later she started selling mussels and then, in 2013, she opened the first Chernomorka tavern in Kyiv.
By this year, her business had grown immensely: she had 40 branches throughout the country and was planning to launch 18 more. Then Russia invaded Ukraine.
"My first concern was to get my daughter out of the country. Then I asked my employees which of them wanted to stay in Ukraine and who wanted to flee, so I could help them leave," Olga says.
In April, as the fighting moved east, restaurants began to reopen, working at 70% capacity. In the meantime, Olga Kopylova continued the work of expanding her chain to Europe.
"We're ready to fry fish for the whole world so that Ukraine wins" is one of Chernomorka's slogans.
(Photo source: Chernomorka's Facebook page)
