"There is a brutal war for the survival of the country and the nation. Not for any territory, not for dominance. It is a war for the preservation of not even a state - the nation of Ukrainians. We understand that if these 'brothers' from the north come, the Ukrainian nation will be cleansed as efficiently as possible. If anyone had any illusions before, they are gone now," said Ihor Liski.
The businessman stressed that culture can unite both Ukrainians and the world around Ukraine.
"If we do not use this unique tool - the cultural component - to motivate all Ukrainians to feel like Ukrainians, to feel what we are fighting for (and this can only be done through culture or propaganda or strategic communications, as we call it now), we will lose," Liski said.
Moreover, he believes that it is the cultural component that gives soldiers an understanding of what they are fighting for, because "just words and money don't work anymore."
"It seems to be much easier for us to communicate this: we are fighting for the truth, for the country, for the future, but it needs to be communicated to as many people as possible, Ukrainians, and all over the world," the businessman said.
In international communication, he added, it is necessary to convey to foreigners that Ukraine has always been part of European civilisation.
"I ask myself questions, for example, why we are reviving the palace in Rozdil (in June 2023, EFI Group purchased the Zhevuskyy-Lyantskoronskyy Palace in Lviv Region at auction for renovation)? They say it's not the right time for war... But this is a war for meanings, for the fact that Ukraine is part of European civilisation. We are raising a whole layer of where we came from. Few people even in Ukraine know that Anne of Kyiv was the Queen of France... And films, songs, theatre performances, books should build this cultural component of ours. Nothing else will work here except culture," believes Ihor Liski.
In addition, we should not forget about the importance of glorifying our contemporaries and showing this to Western audiences.
At the same time, the businessman noted, culture, which can and should become the foundation of victory, is facing a funding problem today.
"The reality is that we now have to make a decision: to finance 155 mm shells or drones, to man two more brigades or, excuse me, to allocate money for culture. And these are very difficult decisions," the businessman stated.
Ukraine will always be inferior to Russia in terms of cultural funding, so other steps are needed - faster, more creative and organised.
"I am deeply convinced that it is impossible to compete with Russia in terms of money, quantity or mass. We need to be more organised. Therefore, my advice to the Ministry of Culture and the Presidential Office is that we need to have greater organisational capacity. And for this, there must be trust between society, the state and all institutions, the diaspora, business, cultural figures, directors, in order to organise us all as quickly and creatively as possible. We need to reject the illusion that Americans, French, and Germans recognise Russian culture as inferior to Ukrainian culture. We have only one answer - we are more united, faster, more creative and more organised," the businessman said.