An interview with Maryna Filipenko, Founder of Business Gravity Awards, MedOrion Awards, Fenix Charity; CEO of Premium Lab; Co-Founder of CABINET BOSS. Top-50 leader.
In just a few years, Maryna Filipenko has built a full-fledged ecosystem of projects reshaping Ukraine’s business narrative. Today, she’s not simply producing award ceremonies — she’s creating spaces of power, where a new economic culture is taking shape.
We spoke with her about how nation-defining events are born, why Business Gravity is often called “the gravitational center of Ukraine’s new economy,” and what awaits the country’s business elite in March 2026.
Business Gravity isn’t an award — it’s a phenomenon. When did you realize that?
The shift happened when Business Gravity stopped attracting an audience and started creating an orbit of influence. People no longer came for a trophy — they came for a new business identity, one the country urgently needs in wartime: responsibility, courage, innovation.
I knew Business Gravity had become a phenomenon when participants began forming partnerships, launching joint ventures, raising investments — and our expert council started looking like the country’s economic nucleus.
Business Gravity is a place where people don’t come for an evening. They come for the future.
What does Business Gravity represent to you personally?
Business Gravity is the core of a new economic civilization in Ukraine. It’s a platform for those who did not break during the war. For those who kept building through fear, loss, and turbulence. For those creating new markets, restoring the country, shaping its infrastructure and meaning.
To me, Business Gravity is the center of gravity for the bold — a place where strategic thinkers, decisive leaders, and innovators gather to design the future of the nation.
You lead several large-scale projects, but PR remains your foundation. What role does PR play at this level?
PR is the architecture of influence — not social media posts. Awards of this scale don’t need “content”; they need a system of narratives capable of shaping the image of 21st-century Ukraine.
At Premium Lab, we work with what becomes cultural code: ideas that get quoted, messages that build trust, values that define an era.
PR is not when people simply know you. PR is when people look to you.
What sets Business Gravity apart from other business awards?
Business Gravity isn’t about money — it’s about value. We honor those who create meaning, build markets, support the state, and set standards. Those who shape the economic axis of Ukraine.
After participating, a company enters a different orbit of influence:
— investors come first
— media seek interviews
— global forums send invitations
— reputation becomes an asset that cannot be replicated
But the real power lies in the circle you enter — a circle of people who do not follow the rules. They write them.
What PR impact do participants receive?
Business Gravity is one of the most powerful PR platforms of the year.
Participants receive:
• national and international media coverage
• television presence
• professional interviews and public speaking opportunities
• reputational status
• new partnerships, investments, and market access
After the ceremony, a company’s name begins to sound different — with scale, trust, and respect.
What transformation does a person undergo after entering the Business Gravity orbit?
They begin to think beyond the limits of their own company. They feel connected to a broader mission.
For some, it becomes a catalyst for bold decisions.
For others — a pathway to strategic partnerships.
For many — an expansion of their intellectual and professional horizon.
Business Gravity removes the “chains of limitation” and shifts a leader into a new mode:
I act as a leader of the country, not just my business.
What should we expect in March 2026?
Expect an event no one wants to miss.
The Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv will become Ukraine’s center of gravity — a gathering point for:
• business owners
• investors and innovators
• international partners
• philanthropists
• socio-political leaders
• cultural and media influencers
• the new generation of business elite
It won’t simply be a gala.
It will be the unveiling of a new Ukraine — strong, modern, ambitious.
An evening after which a name on the stage becomes a name the entire country will know.
Business Gravity is not an event.
It is an entrance into a higher league.
What will Business Gravity look like in five years?
It will become a global brand with Ukrainian roots:
• an international expert council representing the U.S., Europe, and Asia
• the Ukrainian Economic Summit by Business Gravity
• large-scale broadcasts and international glossy coverage
• an investment club launching real projects
• the Business Gravity Global Forum
Ukraine is not something we will rebuild after the war — it is being built now.
And everyone who enters the Business Gravity orbit becomes part of its creation.