Institutional Mechanisms of Ukrainian Enterprises' Adaptation to the Transformational Challenges of the Wartime and Postwar Periods

Abstract

Purpose. To reveal the nature and effectiveness of the institutional mechanisms of Ukrainian enterprises' adaptation to the transformational challenges of the wartime and postwar periods and to substantiate the author's conceptual model for assessing institutional adaptation capacity suitable for state policy, donor support and corporate management. Methods. The study draws on the neo-institutional approach and the concepts of dynamic capabilities and organisational resilience. It applies systems analysis, comparison, typologisation and the generalisation of empirical data from the State Statistics Service, international financial institutions and industry business surveys for the period 2020–2025. Results. The institutional adaptation mechanism is interpreted as the unity of a formal and an informal contour whose interaction explains the divergence of enterprise trajectories under identical external conditions. Adaptation, transformation and restructuring are delineated; the wartime challenges are systematised and shown to differ qualitatively from pre-war crises owing to the triple security, resource and territorial nature of the shock. State instruments of relocation, the «Affordable Loans 5-7-9%» lending programme and «eRobota» grants, as well as the external institutional framework, are critically assessed, and the author's notion of an institutional facade is introduced to describe the gap between a mechanism's formal existence and its actual penetration. Informal networks are shown to be frequently more responsive than formal programmes. Conclusions. The transition from survival to sustainable development is institutionally mediated and depends on harmonisation with EU norms, compliance with ESG standards and integration into European value chains, while the main risk of reconstruction is its two-speed character with recovery concentrated in a few regions. A four-dimensional model for assessing institutional adaptation capacity is proposed (accessibility, coherence, quality of administration and trust), shifting assessment from the volume of support to its actual effectiveness.