Top countries whose citizens become entrepreneurs in Ukraine
Over 1.6 thousand sole proprietorships were opened by foreigners in Ukraine in the first 9 months of 2025, according to the Unified State Register. This is almost 10% less than during the same period last year. At the same time, the net increase between openings and closures this year amounted to 490 non-resident entrepreneurs. Most often, citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Uzbekistan become entrepreneurs in Ukraine.
Foreigners registered 1,648 sole proprietorships this year in Ukraine, which is 10% less than in the same period last year. Overall, only 0.7% of all new entrepreneurs this year are non-residents of Ukraine.
At the same time, 1,158 foreign sole proprietors ceased their activities during the same period. The net growth amounted to 490 non-resident entrepreneurs. In total, more than 213 thousand entrepreneurs closed down in Ukraine during this period, with foreigners making up only 0.5%.
Unlike Ukrainians, most foreign entrepreneurs are men: 69% versus 31% women.
It is worth noting that non-resident entrepreneurs are quite resilient: the median operating time of such a business in Ukraine is 3.1 years. The record holder was a woman with Russian citizenship whose business operated for 30 years and closed at the beginning of this year. For comparison, Ukrainian sole proprietorships last slightly less — 2.5 years.
“Opening sole proprietorships by foreigners is an absolutely normal and legal practice. People who have a temporary or permanent residence permit in Ukraine obtain a tax identification number (TIN), so they can officially run a business and pay taxes on par with Ukrainian citizens. As for citizens of the Russian Federation — they are no exception to this rule. Only those who legally reside in Ukraine can start their own business. In this case, the procedure does not differ from opening a sole proprietorship by any other non-resident,” notes Denys Popov, head of the legal department of Opendatabot, lawyer, and arbitration manager.
Most new entrepreneurs come from Azerbaijan — 229 (14%), followed by citizens of the Russian Federation — 222 (14%), Uzbekistan — 160 (10%), Moldova — 125 (8%), and Armenia — 95 (6%).
The highest number of business closures were among citizens of Russia — 241 (21%), Azerbaijan — 157 (14%), Moldova — 102 (9%), Uzbekistan — 91 (8%), and Belarus — 69 (6%).
The majority of foreigners choose the trade sector — nearly every third business. Other popular sectors include food service (14%), wholesale trade (9%), computer programming (6%), and information services (4%).
Most closures also occur in these sectors: retail trade (37%), computer programming (10%), and food service (9%).
Every third foreign entrepreneur starts their business in Kyiv: 544 in 2025. Next come Odesa region — 300 (18%), Kyiv region — 138 (8%), Kharkiv region — 104 (6%), and Lviv region — 83 (5%). The fewest foreign entrepreneurs are registered in Volyn, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kherson regions — from 2 to 17.
Foreigners mostly close their businesses in the same regions: Kyiv — 297 (26%), Odesa (17%), Kharkiv (9%), Kyiv region (8%), and Dnipropetrovsk (5%).
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/fops-foreigners-2025
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/fops-foreigners-2025
