Kyiv, September 2026

Happy Nordic Living (HNL) spent the first weeks of autumn in Ukraine meeting partners and visiting potential sites. Our business and investment plan for Ukraine’s reconstruction is now in its final stage, and the focus has moved to sites, partnerships and financing. The most important meeting of the trip took place at the Kyiv Regional State Administration.

Partnership with the Kyiv region

We had the pleasure of meeting the Kyiv Regional State Administration, hosted by Deputy Head Nataliia Havatiuk. The meeting was warm and constructive, and both sides noted that the cooperation so far has worked exceptionally well.

That cooperation has already produced something concrete. The Kyiv regional administration has put forward more than 40 proposed locations for our production facility and for the HNL Village concept, our integrated residential areas built on Nordic industrial timber element technology. Having that many serious options on the table at this stage says a great deal about how the region approaches foreign investment.

At the meeting we agreed to formalise the partnership. A Memorandum of Understanding between HNL and the Kyiv Regional State Administration is now being prepared to confirm the framework for our joint work.

Comparing factory locations

Alongside the Kyiv region, we visited industrial parks as candidate locations for the HNL factory. In the Rivne region we met People’s Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Kovalchuk and toured the KRONOSPAN RIVNE industrial park together with the park’s senior management. Having a major board producer on site would be a clear advantage for our production. We also visited the Bila Tserkva Industrial Park, about 80 km south of Kyiv, and met the park’s management. Together these visits give us a solid basis for comparing a western location close to timber and board supply with one close to our main housing market around Kyiv.

Reference sites and landowners

We also visited reference projects to see how new residential areas are being built and sold in the Kyiv market today, and met landowners interested in developing HNL Villages on their land together with us. These discussions help us match our product and delivery model to real sites and real demand.

Next steps

Our target is to make the investment decision, including the choice of factory site, by the end of 2026 and to have the factory in operation from the beginning of 2028.

One observation we are happy to share with others. For companies considering a role in Ukraine’s reconstruction, our experience with the Ukrainian authorities has been consistently open-minded and welcoming. Doors open when you knock on them, and the willingness to work through practical questions is real. If you are weighing up whether to take the first step, take it.

We will report on the next stages as the work progresses.

Photo caption: Meeting at the Kyiv Regional State Administration. Deputy Head Nataliia Havatiuk (centre) with partners and the Happy Nordic Living delegation: Timo Mikkonen, Glenn Kolleeny, Pekka Eskola and Andrii Antonenko.