Shakhtar builds wartime business around UEFA income and player sales

Shakhtar Donetsk are relying heavily on player trading and UEFA competition payments to sustain their operations, with prolonged displacement from their home city transforming the club’s financial model, according to Forbes.Chief executive Serhii Palkin said the war had sharply reduced traditional revenue opportunities, leaving European participation and the development of saleable talent central to maintaining the Ukrainian club’s finances.Palkin told Forbes: “We had many sources of income, like ticketing, sponsors, partnerships, broadcasts. Now we lost all this. We have just two sources of income: sales of players and bonuses from UEFA.”Shakhtar have operated away from Donetsk since 2014 and staged their European home fixtures abroad since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, with temporary venues creating additional operational demands.According to Forbes, Stamford Bridge is their latest European home, following seasons in Warsaw, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen and Krakow, with the London arrangement also offering a connection to Ukrainians living in Britain.Palkin said the club’s income had reached up to US$400m across the four seasons since the full-scale invasion, describing those revenues as essential to financial survival.Player development remains a core part of that model, but FIFA’s decision to allow foreign players in Ukraine to suspend their contracts disrupted Shakhtar’s established recruitment and trading strategy.The club subsequently placed greater emphasis on Ukrainian talent, while continuing to recruit internationally and structure deals with potential longer-term returns through sell-on clauses.Mykhailo Mudryk’s move to Chelsea in January 2023 illustrates the scale of income available from the model, with an initial €70m fee and up to €30m in additional payments.However, the ability to plan around future revenues remains constrained by circumstances outside the club’s control.Palkin continued: “The biggest challenge we have at this moment is uncertainty. You cannot plan even for one day, for two days. I’m not talking about years.”Shakhtar’s commercial relationships also serve a wider purpose, with energy company DTEK appearing on the club’s Champions League sleeve alongside the ‘Invest in Ukraine’ message carried by principal sponsor SCM.Both businesses are part of owner Rinat Akhmetov’s group, linking the club’s international visibility with efforts to attract attention to Ukraine’s economic recovery and investment needs.DTEK chief executive Maxim Timchenko said: “Thanks to Shakhtar and the president of Shakhtar, we have such outreach and access to hundreds of millions of people.”Timchenko said DTEK had invested €2.4bn since the full-scale invasion, including repairs to damaged infrastructure and new projects, with the football partnership providing a platform to communicate that work internationally.The London fixtures also give Shakhtar a way to maintain relationships with displaced supporters, extending the role of European competition beyond prize money and player exposure.Akhmetov has owned the club since 1996, with Palkin identifying his continued commitment as fundamental to its strategy and survival.The longer-term objective remains a return first to European football in Ukraine and ultimately to Donetsk and the Donbas Arena.Palkin added: “It’s difficult to live without a dream. Having this kind of dream gives you the resources to survive, to develop, to compete and to be ready to return one day back to Donetsk.”