Using a unique micro dataset of shareholding companies from Eastern and Southern Europe, namely Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey, derived from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, we econometrically test the hypothesis that the innovativeness of firms was a major factor affecting their odds of survival during the economic crisis. The results indicate that 10 percentage points increase of the share of sales accounted by products or services introduced over three years before the economic crisis broke out is associated with an estimated 1.8 percentage points decrease of the likelihood of the firm declaring bankruptcy thereafter. As about 5 percent of the firms declared bankruptcy, innovation appears to make a big difference in the survival odds of firms during the time of crisis.