Vakoms, a software development company with R&D offices in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, has stopped almost 10-year cooperation with a well-known startup due to the startup’s unwillingness to cease its operations in russia.
Cooperation between companies began in 2013. During this time, the small startup in the United States grew into a large company, becoming a leader in providing specific services to photographers in many countries. Much of this growth was thanks to the Vakoms team, which built the startup’s software from scratch and continued to develop this software for more than 9 years.
Shortly after the big russian invasion in Ukraine , the team developing this software asked Vakoms’ leadership to transfer them to another project. They explained that they have no desire to work for a business that has a pro-russian position.
As it turned out, the founders of the startup decided not to withdraw their product from the russian market and even to take advantage of the situation and hire cheap russian programmers. In addition, at the onset of the war, when asked to help with the purchase of ammunition for the Ukrainian army, the American company refused, explaining that they were creating a fund to help Ukrainian refugees.
At the same time, other Vakoms’ clients independently offered support and assistance to both the Armed Forces and project teams and their families. Eventually, Vakoms IT company requested the startup stop any cooperation with russia within two weeks or the team will terminate the project. As this appeal was ignored, Vakoms has resolved to sever all ties with the startup.
“This decision was not easy for us. Of course, it caused some financial losses for the company, but we could not do otherwise, because any contact with the aggressor country is considered treason. Since 2014 we have refused to work with russia because of the war in eastern Ukraine. Now our position remains unchanged. We will not back down from this decision,” comment Andriy Shevchyk and Pavlo Pelekh, Vakoms co-founders and managing partners.
As for other Vakoms’ customers, in the first days of the large-scale invasion, they expressed a clear position in support of Ukraine and condemned russia’s actions. The IT company is grateful to all partners for their moral and financial support, as every dollar paid strengthens Ukraine’s economy.
In addition, even during the war, Vakoms noted an increase in new requests for the development and expansion of current projects. That’s why new vacancies are constantly appearing at the company’s website.