SVOYA: in Israel, the creation of the Ukrainian women’s business club ‘Svoya’ was announced

In Israel, the launch of the women’s business club SVOYA has been announced — a new space for women from the Ukrainian community in Israel who are developing businesses, creating projects, seeking support, partnerships, and a circle of people who understand their experience without unnecessary explanations.

The project organizers are Anna Andrienko together with Anna Zharova. This is how it was described in the launch announcements: the idea was born as a joint initiative of two women well-acquainted with the Ukrainian environment in Israel, public projects, entrepreneurship, and the living need for support.

The first meeting will take place on May 24, 2026 at 19:00 in Tel Aviv, at the restaurant SHO? located at Carlebach St 3, Tel Aviv-Yafo. The topic is stated as: “Business Despite Challenges: How to Start, Sustain, and Grow“. In another formulation, the organizers call it more harshly and directly: “Real Business in Unreal Conditions“.

Registration is already available at the link – https://forms.gle/F9jJkhkS2LjU6Tjh9

For the Ukrainian community in Israel — repatriates from Ukraine, Ukrainians who permanently reside in the country, those who came earlier as family members, and those who found themselves in Israel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — this event goes beyond a regular business meeting. It is about an attempt to create a circle of trust for women who not only work and build careers but also often bear the family, adaptation, responsibility, volunteering, and emotional connection with Ukraine.

What is SVOYA and why it is not just a club

SVOYA is positioned as a women’s business community. But in the description of the idea itself, it is immediately felt that it is not about formal networking and not about a beautiful sign for the sake of an event.

On the project page, it is stated:

“Not just a women’s club.
A circle of our own 🤍”

And further:

“A community of women who create business despite challenges.
Israel • Networking • Support”

Here is the Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589374482715

This formulation explains well why the project is called “Svoya“. In the Ukrainian environment, this word carries not only the meaning of belonging. It means trust, closeness, inner recognition. “Svoya” is the one who doesn’t need to explain for long why moving to another country can be painful. “Svoya” is the one who understands how difficult it is to start over, find clients, talk about oneself in a new market, and at the same time remain strong for the family.

In one of the announcements, Anna Andrienko wrote:

“Over the years in Israel, I have met an incredible number of Ukrainian women. Strong. Talented. Beautiful. Those who create businesses, work without days off, start from scratch, go through difficult challenges — and still continue to move forward.”

This quote sets the emotional tone for the entire project. SVOYA emerges not from an abstract idea of “making a club,” but from the experience of communicating with women who have been living between personal responsibility, work, a new country, Ukrainian identity, and real business tasks for many years.

First meeting: business, honest conversation, and support

The first meeting of the club is titled “Business Despite Challenges: How to Start, Sustain, and Grow“. In the announcement, the organizers also use an alternative formula: “Real Business in Unreal Conditions“.

This is an important detail. The title does not promise easy success, quick money, or a “magic strategy.” On the contrary, it acknowledges reality: business often has to be built not when everything is perfect, but when there is uncertainty, war, relocation, expensive rent, a new language environment, competition, and constant pressure of circumstances.

The program includes:

• a panel discussion with female entrepreneurs;
• presentation of the women’s business club “Svoya”;
• explanation of how to join the community;
• light buffet;
• a glass of wine or champagne;
• networking;
• support;
• honest conversation.

Date: May 24, 2026
Time: 19:00
Place: restaurant SHO?
Address: Carlebach St 3, Tel Aviv-Yafo

Registration link:
https://forms.gle/F9jJkhkS2LjU6Tjh9

The venue also matters. The restaurant SHO? is already perceived as one of the notable Ukrainian spots in Tel Aviv and Israel. Therefore, launching the women’s business club there seems logical: it is not a neutral hall without context, but a space associated with Ukrainian entrepreneurial initiative in Israel.

Who is behind the launch of SVOYA

The project organizers are Anna Andrienko together with Anna Zharova.

Anna Andrienko is known as an entrepreneur, public figure, and founder of the first Ukrainian restaurant in Israel, SHO?. Her experience is not only related to the restaurant business but also to creating a place around which a lively environment of communication, meetings, and Ukrainian presence in Israel is formed.

Anna Zharova is a public figure, co-founder of the NGO “Israeli Friends of Ukraine,” and a producer of impact projects. Her participation adds a public and value context to the project: SVOYA appears not just as a club of female entrepreneurs but as part of a broader self-organization of the Ukrainian community in Israel.

In her post, Anna Andrienko explained why she had long wanted to create such a space:

“I myself know well what it’s like. When there is responsibility, people, business, family, a new country, and a constant search for inner support.”

This phrase is especially important for understanding the project. It shows that SVOYA addresses not an ideal picture of entrepreneurship, but the real female burden. To a situation where business is not only plans, income, and promotion but also responsibility for people, family, employees, clients, and one’s own resilience.

She further adds:

“Perhaps that’s why I have long wanted to create a space ‘for our own.’ Not just a women’s club, but a living community of support, acquaintances, experience, new opportunities, and people who understand you without unnecessary explanations.”

Thus, together with Anna Zharova, SVOYA was born.

For NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency this story is important as an example of how the Ukrainian community in Israel is gradually creating its own sustainable structures: not only charitable initiatives and cultural events but also business communities where the experience of adaptation turns into practical support.

Participants of the first panel

The poster for the first meeting lists four participants, each representing their experience in business, public work, personal branding, or a creative profession.

Tetiana Kumok is presented as the Merry Wedding Fairy, blogger, entrepreneur, and expert in business promotion without a budget. She has 28 years in the wedding fashion industry, so her experience can be especially important for those developing a personal brand, working in the service niche, and looking for ways to promote their business without large advertising resources.

Anna Zharova is a public figure, co-founder of the NGO “Israeli Friends of Ukraine,” and a producer of impact projects. Her participation is important for the conversation about partnerships, public initiatives, Ukrainian-Israeli projects, and those formats where business intersects with social responsibility.

Inesa Shapovalova is presented as a chocolatier, blogger, and hedonist. This is another type of entrepreneurial experience — through a creative product, authorial style, visuality, taste, and emotional value of the brand. Such a path is especially close to small businesses, where the creator’s personality often becomes part of the product itself.

Anna Andrienko is an entrepreneur, public figure, and founder of the first Ukrainian restaurant in Israel “Sho?”. Her experience is related to the restaurant business, Ukrainian identity in Israel, and creating a place that becomes not just an establishment but a point of attraction for people, meetings, and new initiatives.

Such a composition shows that the conversation will not be limited to one area. There is the restaurant business, public projects, wedding fashion, blogging, chocolate, personal branding, and promotion. For the first meeting, this seems logical: the club needs to immediately show different routes of women’s entrepreneurship.

Such a composition shows that the conversation will not be limited to one area. There is the restaurant business, public projects, wedding fashion, blogging, chocolate, personal branding, and promotion. For the first meeting, this seems logical: the club needs to immediately show different routes of women’s entrepreneurship.

Why such a club is important right now

Women from the Ukrainian community in Israel live in a very heterogeneous reality. Among them are repatriates from Ukraine, those who have lived in Israel for a long time, Ukrainians who came earlier as family members, and those who found themselves here after Russia’s invasion in 2022. Each group has its own experience, but many challenges overlap.

Some need to re-confirm their professionalism. Some need to find clients in a different language environment. Some need to understand Israeli business rules, taxes, rent, promotion, bureaucracy. Some already have a business but want to get out of loneliness and find a circle of people with whom they can speak honestly.

Against this background, SVOYA can become not just a place for acquaintances, but a working network of trust. In business in Israel, personal recommendations, reputation, and connections often have enormous significance. Especially for those who come from a different cultural and language environment.

From solitary adaptation to community

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 changed the lives of many people connected with Ukraine and Israel. Some families found themselves divided between countries. Some women took on additional responsibility for children, parents, business, documents, relocations, helping Ukraine, and adapting to Israel.

But it is important not to reduce the entire Ukrainian environment in Israel only to the latest wave. Ukrainians who permanently reside in Israel have been forming here for decades: some came through repatriation, some as family members, some built a life in the country long before the full-scale war. Therefore, SVOYA addresses not one category, but a broader circle of women for whom the Ukrainian experience, language, culture, and connections remain an important part of identity.

It is in such a circle that real practical benefits can appear: exchange of contacts, recommendations, joint projects, consultations, mutual advertising, support in difficult periods, and the ability not to explain from scratch every time why everything is so complicated.

SVOYA as a new point of Ukrainian self-organization in Israel

The Svoya – Ladies in Business page was created on May 12, 2026. The profile indicates the category “business consultant,” and the description is built around three words: Israel • Networking • Support.

These three words well convey the essence of the launch. Israel — as the place where women live, work, and build their projects. Networking — as business connections, without which it is difficult to develop. Support — as support, which is especially needed for those who find themselves in a new reality or have long relied on their own strength.

Anna Andrienko wrote in her address:

“And I know that many have been waiting for this meeting for a long time. So finally — we are starting. I will be very glad to see you at our first meeting.”

This phrase shows that the project did not arise in a vacuum. Judging by the tone of the post, there was already a demand for such a community. Women lacked not only business information but also a place where they could meet “their own” — people with similar experiences, language, values, and understanding of the context.

If SVOYA develops systematically, the club can become a notable platform for women’s entrepreneurship in the Ukrainian community in Israel. It can all start with one meeting in a restaurant, but from such formats often grow partnerships, recommendations, educational events, joint projects, and new initiatives.

The main meaning of the launch of SVOYA is that the Ukrainian environment in Israel continues not only to respond to crises but also to create its own institutions. The women’s business club “Svoya” is an attempt to turn personal experience, mutual recognition, and the need for support into a sustainable community.

And if the first meeting indeed gathers women who create business despite challenges, then the club’s name will be very accurate. Because in difficult periods, it is especially important to have not just contacts nearby, but your own.

Here is the Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589374482715