‘It Takes a Long Time to Build a Railway, So Truck Transport Became Very Important’ – Scania CEO

In only one sentence Scania CEO Håkan Jyde summarized the logistic sector in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022 and gave a hint why Ukraine now has more than 1,000 female truck drivers. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Scania CEO Håkan Jyde (left) being interview by Kyiv Post. A female truck driver performing practical driving skills (middle, back) at the Scania main service station in the Bucha district near Kyiv, March 2026. (Photo by Kyiv Post). Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google The war and the changes in the mode of transportation of goods, that in one way benefited the road transportation business, including Scania, also caused manpower problems for the same sector – leading to initiatives like the project to retrain women to become truck drivers. The Swedish truck manufacturer Scania is one of the supporters of this project, and Kyiv Post spoke with its CEO, Håkan Jyde, about Scania’s role in the endeavor. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . The goals for this project are to address the acute shortage of professional drivers caused by the war, strengthen Ukraine’s economy and reconstruction, and promote inclusion and women’s participation in the labor market, not least in a male-dominated branch. Re-Skilling Ukraine is financed by the Swedish non-profit organization “Beredskapslyftet” (Skill Shift Initiative). However, the engine that makes the project spin is the line out to companies in partnership with Re-Skilling Ukraine – companies that contribute to the project with their knowledge, skills, equipment and other resources. The truck enterprise Scania is one of those companies. For Scania it all started in 2023 when the co-founder of Beredskapslyftet Fredrik Hillelson asked Jyde if Scania wanted to be part of a pilot test training 24 Ukrainian women to become truck drivers. Hillelson immediately received a positive response from Jyde, and three years later, Scania is still supporting the project. Other Topics of Interest Massive Drone Wave Targets Russian Oil Refineries and Ports Across Five Regions Overnight strikes ignited fires at multiple refineries in Samara and Krasnodar, while 27 drones targeted the Leningrad region as Ukraine intensifies pressure on Moscow’s energy exports. Recently the project celebrated the graduation of 1,000 female truck drivers at the Scania main service station in the Bucha district near Kyiv. According to Beredskapslyftet, the women already have a B driver’s license when they are accepted to the retraining program. They obtain a C or CE driver’s license for trucks at a regular driving school with the cost covered by Beredskapslyftet. In this interview, Jyde describes how Scania supports the project. Kyiv Post: How is Scania contributing to the project of training female truck drivers? Håkan Jyde: Scania contributes with additional practical parts of the training such as how to drive a modern truck, how to secure loads, how to drive safely, economically and ecologically. First aid elements are also included in these training courses. We provide trucks and personnel to train them, and we are responsible for the expenses directly linked to the training we deliver. Many of the women who have completed the training are internally displaced persons who have fled from perhaps eastern or southern Ukraine but have chosen to stay in the country. It is part of the project to empower these women. A female truck driver practicing her skills at Scania’s main service station in the Bucha district near Kyiv, March 2026. (Photo by Re-Skilling Ukraine) The reason we do this is that we want to contribute to giving women the opportunity to learn a profession and to bring more women into the labor market. Also, from Scania’s side, we have customers whose biggest problem is finding drivers. Those customers are the ones who buy our trucks and service them with us, so it is clear that it is in Scania’s interest that there are drivers for our customers. Our customers have enormous challenges in finding drivers in a country at war, where many are needed in the military, it doesn’t have to be at the front, it can be to drive ammunition and other supplies to the military units. Some have left the country. In addition, many truck drivers are worried about driving on the roads here for fear of being mobilized. There are roadblocks everywhere and you get stopped and checked. All transportation companies have that kind of problem. Then it’s a good idea to hire women… Absolutely! Traditionally, women have not been able to drive heavy trucks in Ukraine. Until 2017, it was not allowed according to the Work Environment Law, but now they can. It is still quite unusual for women to drive heavy trucks, but trucks in general are becoming more common. What are the chances for women to find work after their education – are there prejudices making it difficult to get employment? Of course, there may be those who are skeptical about female drivers and that is what women are confronted with. But there are so many different types of transportation. Driving a truck is not just about being on the road in Europe for weeks. There are many different parts to this profession, such as delivering food or petrol during the day in and around the cities. Some drive evacuation ambulances, others become bus drivers. There are many different options for those who have completed the training. And there are good examples of female truck drivers being on the road for weeks – just like men. It is about one’s personal situation. A few of the 1,000 female truck drivers, here dressed in green, in Scania main service station, March 2026. In the middle is Eva Tatarova, Re-Skilling Project Manager. (Photo by Re-Skilling Ukraine) How has the war affected Scania’s operations in Ukraine? Logistics is the lifeblood of every society, one could say, especially during war. And this changed dramatically during the war. The first thing that happened was that air traffic disappeared and then the Black Sea was practically closed. The transportation of Ukraine’s major exports such as agricultural products and grain, which had mainly been transported by boat across the Black Sea, had to be rerouted. It takes a long time to build a railway. So then truck transport became very important. It’s simply the most flexible way to reroute logistics. For this reason, commercially we have had some of our best years during the war. The need for our products has increased. Our task is to support customers with trucks and ensure that they stay on the roads, that they can be serviced and repaired. Life should continue with some kind of normality, and we try to contribute to supporting that normality. Food goes to the shops, petrol goes to the petrol stations, medicines go to the pharmacies and ammunition goes to the front. We feel that we play an important role in keeping society going. And if we can contribute to the training of female truck drivers, it will not only help Scania, but all of society – a stronger Ukraine. Your customers depend on drivers, but Scania also depends on mechanics for your service stations – have you lost that workforce during the war? We have eleven service stations around Ukraine, many mechanics have been mobilized, and it makes it very difficult to run the business, because the need to service the trucks has increased at the same time as we have less people. Those who have worked with us and who work with us now, are used to servicing heavy vehicles, and they can also fill a very important function within the military. It is clear that they are very attractive. Have you then considered training female mechanics? Yes! We also have such a project in collaboration with Beredskapslyftet, with other service stations here in Kyiv and with the National Transportation University in Kyiv, which is responsible for the theoretical part of the training. Then the female mechanics do internship at our service stations. We have hired our first female mechanic at the service station here in Kyiv. This is also something that has not existed before. It was new for us. We only had changing rooms for men. So, the first thing I decided was to have a new changing room built for our first woman. Of course, we hope for more women. CEO Håkan Jyde at Scania’s service station in the Bucha area outside Kyiv, March 2026, the station that was evacuated in February 2022. It was occupied by Russian forces, and Jyde shows bullet and shrapnel holes from when the facility was attacked. After the Russians withdrew, Scania was back in operation already in April 2022. (Photo by Lena Pettersson / Kyiv Post). Have these projects helped Scania solve the shortage of personnel, although now it’s not drivers you’re rather short of, it’s mechanics...? The mechanic project that we are running in parallel has a direct impact on our business. It’s all about our being able to run our service stations, serve our customers, so we have a direct interest in that. As for the driver side, it is about helping our customers, and it’s important to us that things go well for our customers. If we can contribute to the training of female truck drivers, it will help not only Scania – it will also help Ukraine. For the companion piece where Kyiv Post’s Lena Pettersson interviews the truck drivers, “Music Teacher Trades 12 Notes for 18 Wheels – and Loves It,” click here .