Oleg Chykyda is an entrepreneur from Volyn, co-owner and CEO of the ZPEK group of companies, which within three years entered the TOP 10 importers of diesel fuel in Ukraine.
How it all began
Oleg Chykyda entered the fuel business in 2022 — at a moment of maximum crisis and great turbulence caused by the war and a shortage of petroleum products in the country. At that time, import sources and logistics chains changed. In this chaos, the entrepreneur saw not a threat but an opportunity.
“We entered the fuel market not from scratch, but already with experience in managing businesses, with a certain team and financial resources,” says Oleg Chykyda. By the time he entered the fuel sector, he already had behind him a retail chain of stores in Volyn, a timber-processing business, and experience working with industrial chemicals.
“In the literal sense, it all began with a single shipment. Partners from Lithuania, with whom we had previously cooperated in other areas, offered the first batch of petroleum products. The team that had been working on the chemical line was immediately redirected to the fuel business. That is how ZPEK — the Western Fuel and Energy Company — started in 2022.”
Three years of hard work
“ZPEK is not a story of sudden success; it is the result of hard, three years of daily work,” emphasizes Oleg Chykyda. The company steadily scaled up: from importing one fuel tanker per week, to its first railway train in September 2024, and to five trains every week today.
In parallel, ZPEK expanded its partner network: among the company’s key partners are ORLEN, UNIMOT, VITOL, and strategic partner Oktan-energy. In financing infrastructure projects and operational activities, the company works actively with Ukrgasbank.
From the second half of 2025, ZPEK has consistently been among the TOP 10 importers of diesel fuel in Ukraine, supplying more than 30,000 tons every month. The company is also developing new routes — Chop and Vadul-Siret — as additional import channels to ensure a presence in various regions of the country.
Over 2024–2026, ZPEK paid 8.14 billion hryvnias in taxes.
Tested by winter
The winter of 2024–2025 became a serious stress test for the entire industry. ZPEK faced several force majeure events at once: the waters of the Port of Szczecin froze, railcars derailed near Warsaw due to icing, and workers had to drain fuel at temperatures of minus 20–25 degrees. Because of the frost, losses on large trains reached 20–25 tons of product.
Despite everything, the company met all its obligations to clients. What is more, the geography of deliveries expanded: in winter, customers came for fuel even from Cherkasy, Dnipro, and Kremenchuk. “In such conditions, it is not the strategy that is tested, but the foundation of the business,” sums up Oleg Chykyda.
Oleg Chykyda’s view of the market: order versus chaos
At first, Ukraine’s fuel market surprised Oleg Chykyda with its lack of system. “When you enter a big business, you expect clear rules of the game, logic, and economically predictable behavior from competitors. Here, there is none of that,” he says. The market suffers from an excessive number of small operators, some of whom work through schemes: they buy a license for 16,000 hryvnias, operate for 3–4 months, and then disappear, leaving the problems to the systemic players.
In the entrepreneur’s opinion, the state should already be tightening requirements for importers of petroleum products: raising the entry threshold through the cost of licenses, mandatory reserves, or the ownership of one’s own infrastructure is not only protection for systemic players but also a matter of filling the budget and reducing risks for end consumers.
In this context, ZPEK deliberately chooses a strategy of long-term development: investing in fuel tankers, railway tank cars, and expanding the geography of deliveries. The company does not try to win through dumping, but instead builds a reputation as a supplier you can rely on.
The secret that is no secret
ZPEK’s experience since 2022 has shown that the most resilient players in the fuel market turned out to be not the largest or the wealthiest, but those who had a solid foundation: reliable partners, financial discipline, and a reputation they did not want to lose. In sectors with high volatility, such as diesel fuel imports, this reputation often matters more than price or volume.
“A client who once received fuel on time and in full, despite a force majeure, comes back,” emphasizes Oleg Chykyda. It is precisely on such returns that long-term business is built. Not on dumping, not on schemes, but on responsibility for every commitment made.
Oleg Chykyda — a brief biographical note
Born: June 9, 1981, in the urban-type settlement of Liubeshiv, Volyn Oblast. A family of teachers.
Education: Faculty of Law, Volyn State University.
Early business: a retail chain of stores in Volyn (built, scaled, and sold); a timber-processing business (more than 1,200 jobs); industrial chemicals and disinfectants (Trademark Group).
Corporate experience: work at the Kontinium group, asset management in the agricultural, energy, and financial sectors; first experience in the fuel sector starting in 2004.
Since 2022: co-owner and CEO of the ZPEK group of companies. He is also developing projects in the fields of electric power, real estate development, HoReCa, and agricultural production.