About Eastok
The name Eastok combines the English east with the Russian восток, which means the same thing. It also brings to mind исток, the Russian word for a source or origin.
I started Eastok because I wanted to better understand what is happening in the technology markets of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The region has no shortage of ambitious plans, new tech hubs, digital programmes, startups and investment announcements. I am more interested in what actually lies behind those claims.
Why do some ecosystems grow faster than others? What does a technology park or special zone really offer companies? Where do local fintech firms find an edge? Why does a model that works in one country fail in another?
In Eastok, I try to look at technology and business alongside local context: history, institutions, business practices and the people shaping these markets.
There is not always a simple answer. Sometimes it matters just as much to separate real change from announcements and see what the evidence tells us.
Hi, I’m Damian
I was interested in the East long before I began working in technology.
I was born in Toruń, Poland, but my family has deep roots in Podlasie and the eastern borderlands. Some of my family lived for generations in what is now Belarus. Perhaps that is why travelling east has never felt like entering a completely unfamiliar world.
Later I took up Russian and studied it alongside economics and management. I also began travelling more around the region, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Many people close to me in Poland speak Russian, so the language and the region have long been part of my everyday life.
For work, though, I moved into technology. I have always liked building things, so I taught myself to code and found my first IT job a few months later. I went on to work on digital products, including ones for the Saudi Arabian market.
Over time, I became more interested in the questions around the code. How do companies get started? Why do they choose certain business models? How do they enter new markets, and why do some projects grow faster than others?
I have also spent time working on business development, investment and international cooperation. What interested me most was building something from the beginning, finding a direction, talking to people and trying to understand the market.
Eventually, I noticed that three interests I had pursued separately were coming together: technology, business and the East.
That is where Eastok came from.
For me, it is a way to keep learning about these markets, asking questions, doing research and talking to the people shaping them.
Have a question or want to talk about the region?
Write to me if you have a thought, a source or a perspective to share.
Write to me