Elena Borisova has come a long way from a 17-year-old working in a liquor department to becoming the CEO of one of Ukraine's largest restaurant chains — “GastroFamily.” In an interview with Wave RBC.UA, she shared that she has been in the restaurant business for 25 years, that the company has been around for 17 years and counts more than 50 establishments, including four in Poland. Borisova consciously chooses responsibility over illusions and rethinks her own values through the experience of her divorce from her ex-husband Dmitry Borisova, business crises, and war. In her words, she views any setbacks not as defeats but as “very expensive experience,” which she now shares by selling consulting services through her own agency.
Roots: From Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi to Khmelnytskyi
Borisova was born in Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi, 80 kilometers from Odesa, into a family of engineers. She recalls her childhood with warmth, spending time with her grandparents by the sea and the lagoon. Her mother is from Odesa Oblast, her father from Kherson Oblast. With the start of the full-scale phase, her parents first moved to Poland, then to Slovenia, but eventually returned. Borisova deeply researched her lineage and, in her words, managed to do so while the archives still existed in Kherson Oblast. Among her discoveries was a maternal-line ancestor, the Uman colonel Yosef (Osyp) Hlukh, a comrade-in-arms of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Borisova added the information she found to Wikipedia and notes that she intuitively named one of her sons Yosef long before this discovery.
GastroFamily: 25 Years in the Restaurant Business
The first restaurant — “Barsuk” on Pechersk — was opened by her ex-husband Dmitry Borisova; when the venue turned one year old, they started working together and opening new brands and concepts. Today the chain has more than 50 establishments: in-house, partner franchise, and four in Poland. Borisova emphasizes that it is hard to give an exact figure, because some locations close while others open — including during the winter preparation period. She says that some guests who had been dining out for years have left, and that the “guest journey” has changed overall: people travel to the city center less often and prefer venues near their home or workplace.
Difficult Decisions and the Philosophy of Expensive Experience
The key decision that stabilized the company during the full-scale war, Borisova says, is the team: “One word — people.” She relies on employees who have been with her for more than 10 years, and some for 20, even from her previous business. In her words, the toughest decisions are always about people, and she tries to view difficulties philosophically — as a springboard for something new. “I have no f*ckups — only expensive experience,” she sums up, adding that she now monetizes this experience through a consulting agency.
Contradictory Data
In the interview itself, Borisova uses a generalized phrasing, speaking of “several” closed establishments over the winter period, and cites “Kanapka Bar” in Kyiv as an example. Meanwhile, business publications tracking the chain are more specific: according to “Dilo,” “GastroFamily” closed four establishments over the 2025–2026 winter season. Thus, the subject's overall assessment and the figure from the industry press do not contradict each other, but differ in the degree of specificity: “several” in spoken language and “four” in the chain summary.
Family and Raising Five Children
Alongside managing a chain of dozens of establishments, Borisova is raising five children and shares her own parenting system in the interview. She ties the mission of studying her lineage specifically to her children, believing they should know who their ancestors were. The subject emphasizes that she consciously chooses responsibility over illusions, and that any crises — family, business, or war-induced — become for her a reason to rethink values, not a reason for blame. In her phrasing, “there is no immunity from divorce,” and living between two countries and balancing business and family is a constant choice, not a given.
