As of early September 2026, 659,090 sole proprietors were operating in the retail sector in Ukraine—that is, nearly one in three registered entrepreneurs in the country—according to data from the Unified State Register cited by Opendatabot.
After a decline in 2025, the number of entrepreneurs in retail began to grow again. From January through August 2026, 8,196 more sole proprietors were registered in the sector than ceased operations.
The trend in recent years has been uneven. In 2021, 2022, and 2025, the number of business closures in the retail sector exceeded the number of new registrations. The most challenging year was 2022, when the net loss amounted to nearly 25,000 entrepreneurs.
The most common sector remains retail in non-specialized stores—this is the business of about 208,000 sole proprietors, or 32% of all retail entrepreneurs.
Another 159,900 entrepreneurs, or 24%, work in markets and sell from stalls. About 107,400, or 16%, make sales outside of stores, including online.
Thus, about three-quarters of Ukrainian retail entrepreneurs are concentrated in just three major formats—non-specialized stores, market trade, and sales outside of brick-and-mortar retail outlets.
The Dnipropetrovsk region has the highest number of sole proprietors in the retail sector—46,400. It is followed by the Odesa region with 44,500, Kyiv with 43,900, the Lviv region with 40,700, and the Kharkiv region with 40,600.
The Opendatabot study was published on September 11, 2026, and is based on data from the Unified State Register.
Original source: Opendatabot—nearly one in three sole proprietorships operates in retail
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The Ministry of Communities, Territories, and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine (MinRegion) proposes introducing a quality guarantee of at least 10 years for new real estate properties immediately after they are put into operation; the government has already supported this initiative, according to the ministry’s press service.
MinRegion clarified that, to implement these changes, it is proposed to amend the Civil Code of Ukraine and the laws “On the Regulation of Urban Development” and “On the Protection of Consumer Rights.”
“A person who purchases a new property should be protected not only at the time of purchase. We propose introducing a quality guarantee for the property lasting at least 10 years. If, during this period, the owner discovers defects that affect the property’s serviceability, they will be able to require the developer to remedy them. If the owner corrects the defects on their own, the developer must reimburse those costs,” said Deputy Minister Natalia Kozlovska, whose remarks are quoted in the press release.
The construction client or its successor in title will be responsible for the quality of the property during the warranty period.
The new rules will apply to completed properties that have been accepted for use, with the exception of properties built on the basis of a construction passport and certain properties with minor SS1 consequences, where the work was performed in-house.
The ministry’s press service reported that, following the adoption of the amendments, if defects are discovered during the 10-year warranty period, the owner must notify the construction client of them. Defects that affect the normal use of the property must be confirmed by a report from a certified specialist based on the results of an inspection. The construction client must, within 30 days, propose how and by when to remedy the defects, or provide a reasoned refusal. The owner must, within seven days, either agree to the proposed solution or reject it. Once agreed upon, the client must remedy the defects within the specified time frame. The owner may also remedy them independently or engage other specialists. In such a case, the construction contractor must fully reimburse the repair costs.
A similar initiative was included in government bill No. 13607 dated August 7, 2025, but following the resignation of Yulia Svyrydenko’s government, it was withdrawn on July 16, 2026. At that time, experts proposed extending the mandatory warranty to include SS1 buildings (most often private homes) and increasing the warranty period for monolithic-frame buildings to 30 years.
Ukraine’s Cyber Police have urged citizens not to use the services of dubious intermediaries who offer, via the internet, to exchange old paper driver’s licenses for modern documents without visiting Ministry of Internal Affairs service centers.
According to law enforcement officials, scammers post offers on social media and messaging apps, promising to issue a new license entirely online. To do this, they may demand an advance payment, as well as photos of the passport, driver’s license, and other documents.
As a result, citizens risk not only losing money but also receiving a counterfeit license, the details of which are not recorded in government registries, the Driver’s Cabinet, or the “Diya” app. Furthermore, copies of documents provided to scammers may later be used for other illegal activities.
The Cyber Police remind the public that paper-booklet-style driver’s licenses issued in Ukraine before 1991 remain valid within the country. There is no mandatory requirement to replace them. If you wish to obtain a modern-style license, you must contact a Ministry of Internal Affairs service center and complete the official procedure.
Law enforcement officials list the following as signs of potential fraud: communication exclusively via messaging apps; promises to issue a license entirely online; offers to “enter data into the database” without following the official procedure; demands to transfer an advance payment to a private bank card; and requests to send photos of a passport or other documents.
You should exercise particular caution if the person you’re communicating with claims to be an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs service center but suggests conducting all procedures via social media or a private chat.
Official government services are not provided through random social media pages and do not require you to share personal documents with unknown individuals, the Cyber Police emphasize.
If a citizen discovers a suspicious post or has already sent money or personal information to scammers, law enforcement recommends saving the correspondence, links, phone numbers, and other evidence, and then contacting the police or submitting an online report via the Cyber Police website.
Additional information on common scams is available on the “Kyber Brama” portal, and official information on driver’s license exchanges can be found on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Main Service Center.
Source: Cyber Police of Ukraine.
CYBER POLICE, Driver, fraud, Ministry of Internal Affairs, UKRAINE
Turkey intends to participate in the Caspian Sea–Black Sea–Europe energy corridor (Black Sea Energy) project, which is designed to ensure the supply of “green” electricity from the South Caucasus to the European Union market, said Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.
According to him, the project involves connecting the power grids of Azerbaijan and Georgia, followed by the transmission of electricity via an undersea cable across the Black Sea to Romania and on to Hungary. At the invitation of the Azerbaijani side, Turkey expressed its intention to join the initiative and supported its implementation.
Ankara’s interest in the project is also confirmed by preliminary negotiations with Baku. On August 1, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov reported following a meeting with Bayraktar in Istanbul that the parties had discussed Turkey’s potential cooperation within the framework of the “Caspian–Black Sea–Europe” energy corridor and had also agreed to accelerate the implementation of other joint energy projects.
According to Bayraktar, cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan in the electricity sector is currently developing along three fronts.
The first involves integrating Nakhchivan’s power grid with Turkey’s and organizing electricity exchanges. In the future, this route could be connected to the main territory of Azerbaijan via the Zangezur Corridor.
The second direction is the “green” energy corridor connecting Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Bulgaria. It is intended to facilitate the export of renewable electricity generated in Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Bulgaria and onward to EU markets. In August 2026, Baku and Ankara separately agreed to accelerate the implementation of this project.
The third initiative is Black Sea Energy itself. The main participants in the project remain Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary. The four countries signed an agreement on strategic partnership in the development and transmission of “green” energy in Bucharest on December 17, 2022. The European Union supports the project, viewing it as a new supply route for renewable electricity from the South Caucasus to the EU.
In July 2026, the project moved to the next phase of implementation following the completion and approval of feasibility studies. The project operator, Green Energy Corridor Power Company, has begun developing the conceptual design, engineering solutions, and procurement strategy.
According to recent statements by the Azerbaijani side, the plan is to gradually export up to 3.9–4 GW of green electricity through the corridor, starting in 2032. The project has also been included in the TYNDP 2026 portfolio of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).
A key infrastructure element will be a high-voltage subsea direct-current cable between Georgia and Romania. The preliminary construction cost is estimated at approximately 3.5 billion euros, with a construction period of three to four years. It was previously reported that up to 2.3 billion euros in European funding could be secured. However, in the latest Global Gateway documents, 2.3 billion euros is also cited as the indicative investment amount for the strategic Black Sea electricity interconnector, so the final financing structure for the project is still to be finalized.
The European Commission views Black Sea Energy as one of the tools for diversifying the EU’s energy supply and integrating renewable generation from the South Caucasus. The project is intended to connect the Caspian Sea region to the European power grid via Georgia and Romania, while also strengthening the energy resilience of the participating countries.
If Turkey joins, the project will take on additional significance, as Ankara will be able to participate in several parallel transmission routes for Azerbaijani “green” electricity to Europe—via the Black Sea and via the Turkey–Bulgaria overland corridor.
In Ukraine, 107,400 sole proprietors in the retail sector operate outside of brick-and-mortar stores, including those engaged in online sales, according to data from Opendatabot as of early September 2026 and its analysis by the Experts Club analytical center.
This category accounts for about 16% of all 659,090 sole proprietors operating in the Ukrainian retail sector.
The largest group remains entrepreneurs selling in non-specialized stores—about 208,000, or 32% of the total.
Another 159,900 sole proprietors, or 24%, operate in markets and from retail stalls.
In specialty stores, 82,800 entrepreneurs sell various categories of goods. Another 47,600 sole proprietors specialize in the sale of food, beverages, and tobacco products.
Overall, 659,090 entrepreneurs are currently active in the retail sector in Ukraine. After a decline in the number of sole proprietors in 2025, the segment returned to growth: during the first eight months of 2026, the number of new registrations exceeded the number of closures by 8,200.
The data was published by Opendatabot on September 11, 2026, based on the Unified State Register.
Original source: Opendatabot – Structure of Sole Proprietorships in Retail
According to Fixygen, the cryptocurrency market ended the week of September 7–11 mostly lower: Bitcoin (BTC) fell to approximately $77,000, while Ethereum (ETH) remained in the range of $2,450–$2,460. Pressure on digital assets intensified due to rising oil prices, accelerating inflation in the U.S., and a sharp increase in expectations of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
According to CoinGecko data as of September 11, Bitcoin is trading at around $77,100, down from approximately $79,700 on September 4, marking a weekly decline of roughly 3%. Ethereum is trading at around $2,460 and has remained virtually unchanged compared to the end of the previous week. XRP has fallen to approximately $1.34, and Solana to $99–100.
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is about $2.73 trillion, with a daily trading volume of about $95 billion. Bitcoin accounts for approximately 56.8% of the market, while Ethereum accounts for about 11%. For comparison: on September 4, the market capitalization was about $2.81 trillion, meaning the market lost approximately 3% over the week.
The week began with Bitcoin trading above $80,000: on September 6, the price rose to $80,350, but by September 7 it had fallen to $79,100, to $78,500 on September 8, and dropped below $77,000 on September 10. The main external factor was a shift in expectations regarding U.S. interest rates.
Data released on September 11 showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% month-over-month in August, following a rise of just 0.1% in July. Following the release of the statistics, the market raised the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Fed at its September 15–16 meeting to approximately 85%. Prior to the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, that probability was estimated at approximately 67%.
Oil prices added to the pressure. During the week, the price of Brent crude rose above $100 per barrel for the first time since May, reaching $109.97 amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East and risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. By Friday, oil prices had retreated slightly but remain on track for a weekly gain of more than 8%. High oil prices heighten inflation risks and thereby reduce the likelihood of a rapid easing of central bank policy.
Flows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs also deteriorated. According to data from Farside Investors, net outflows totaled $46.6 million on September 8, $120.2 million on September 9, and approximately $32.4 million on September 10. Thus, over three trading sessions, investors withdrew about $199 million from Bitcoin ETFs. The U.S. market was closed on September 7 for Labor Day.
The situation with Ethereum ETFs was more stable. On September 8, the funds lost $24.3 million; on September 9, they received $34.7 million; and on September 10, they again recorded an outflow of approximately $25.2 million. The cumulative balance over the three sessions was negative by approximately $15 million.
At the same time, Ethereum appeared noticeably more stable than Bitcoin throughout the week. After a 37% rise over ten days in late August, the ETH price consolidated within a range of approximately $2,400–$2,550. On September 9, Reuters noted the formation of a pattern on the chart that technical analysts view as potentially positive, although a drop below the $2,350–$2,360 range would undermine this scenario.
Despite the weakness in prices, the industry’s institutionalization continued. On September 10, Nasdaq announced a $100 million investment in Payward, the parent company of the Kraken crypto exchange. The parties intend to expand their cooperation in the areas of tokenized stocks, 24/7 trading infrastructure, and market surveillance systems.
At the same time, the battle over crypto industry regulation intensified in the U.S. Ahead of a key Senate vote on September 15, cryptocurrency companies and the banking sector stepped up their lobbying campaigns regarding the Clarity Act, which is intended to define the legal status of digital tokens and allocate authority among financial regulators.
A negative development of the week was an attack on the Bitcoin-related Liquid Network. On September 7, the project reported the withdrawal of approximately $320 million, or about 4,000 BTC, from a federated wallet. Following the incident, new transactions on the network were suspended.
On September 10, the European regulator ESMA also warned that the strengthening of ties between the crypto market and the traditional financial system increases the likelihood of potential shocks spreading. The regulator paid particular attention to the rapidly growing prediction markets and the risks of manipulation and insider trading.
