The question “How long does it take to improve my English for work?” almost always sounds as if there’s a single correct answer out there. Three months, half a year, a year. All you have to do is name a timeframe, and the plan is ready.
In reality, you’ll first have to answer a less convenient question: what exactly does “for work” mean in your case?
An accountant who reads emails from headquarters needs one set of skills. A sales manager who negotiates with new clients needs another. A developer might be able to confidently read documentation at the B1 level but get lost during a short stand-up meeting. A manager with a formal B2 level can deliver a prepared presentation just fine but may struggle to engage in discussions afterward.
That’s why a working level isn’t defined by a fancy letter on a certificate, but by what a person can actually do in English without constant assistance.
It’s no coincidence that B2 is often used as a benchmark for international work. According to the CEFR description, a person at this level understands the main ideas of complex texts, can discuss topics within their field of expertise, explain their views, and communicate with sufficient spontaneity.
This is a good general benchmark, but not a universal pass to any professional situation.
For work involving predictable writing tasks, a strong B1 level is sometimes sufficient. For negotiations, public speaking, legally sensitive conversations, or managing an international team, you may need B2+ or C1. Furthermore, a general proficiency level does not indicate how well a person masters the language specific to their profession.
Therefore, the goal of “achieving B2” is useful only when accompanied by a list of specific actions. For example: participating in meetings, explaining delays, writing to clients, conducting demos, and answering questions without a prepared script.
Cambridge English provides a rough guideline: moving from one CEFR level to the next often requires about 200 hours of guided learning. This is not a law of nature, nor is it a guarantee. The pace depends on your starting level, prior experience, intensity, regularity, age, the quality of your practice, and your exposure to the language outside of class.
It’s especially important to understand the word “hours” correctly.
This guideline applies to lessons and guided study. It does not mean 200 hours of passively watching videos. Independent practice outside of class—reading, listening, writing, and using the language in real-life situations—also affects progress, but Cambridge considers these as contributing factors rather than a guaranteed component of each of those 200 hours. If a person attends class twice a week but hardly uses English between sessions, the journey will take longer.
Even the math here is a bit tricky.
Two hours of classes per week add up to about 100 hours per year, not counting vacations and absences. Additional regular practice can significantly speed up progress. On the other hand, long breaks force you to spend part of your time revisiting material you were once familiar with.
For someone with a solid B1 level who needs a general B2, it’s often worth planning not just a few weeks, but many months of consistent work. If the starting point is A2, the path is longer, since you’ll need to complete at least two major stages.
But there’s an important caveat here. You can reach a functional proficiency level sooner than you can achieve full proficiency across all skills.
Let’s say a professional has a B1 level and needs to start participating in weekly meetings within two months. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to fully transition to B2 within that timeframe. However, they can practice the structure of a short report, clarifications, follow-up questions, explaining roadblocks, and summarizing agreements. The person hasn’t yet mastered the entire next level, but is already better at performing specific work tasks.
This isn’t a workaround. It’s simply that overall proficiency and readiness for a specific scenario measure different things.
A company decides to “bring the department up to B2 in six months” and forms a single group. After testing, it turns out that some employees are at A2, some at B1, and two are already performing at nearly B2. Everyone receives the same schedule and program, even though their distance from the goal varies.
After a few months, the stronger employees get bored, the weaker ones progress too quickly, and management sees the uneven results and concludes that the training is ineffective.
The problem arose even before the first session. The deadline was set before the starting level and job requirements were determined.
A proper plan starts with an assessment. Then employees are grouped by similar skill levels, the tasks for each role are clarified, and only then is the schedule drawn up. Sometimes a company truly needs B2 for everyone. More often, however, the sales department needs negotiation skills, the technical team needs precise explanations, and managers need to work on handling objections and giving presentations.
Consistency is almost always more important than rare bursts of motivation. Three hours every two weeks looks impressive on the calendar, but has a weaker effect than shorter practice sessions several times a week.
A clear connection to real life also helps. When someone practices a phrase today and uses it in a meeting tomorrow, the material sticks better than a topic that might be useful at some unspecified point in the future.
Most often, time is wasted due to three things: an irregular schedule, studying without a clear goal, and attempting to complete a program that doesn’t match your current level.
Before counting the months, it’s worth figuring out your English levels, determining your starting point, and describing the situations for which you need the language.
After that, your forecast becomes much more realistic. Not “fluent English in three months,” but, for example, “in three months, learn to handle a brief professional call, and over the course of a year, systematically progress from B1 to B2.”
Such a plan sounds more modest than an advertising promise. But you can actually stick to it, rather than just getting carried away on the day you pay.
According to the “Serbian Economist,” Serbia’s lack of progress in its EU accession negotiations could create additional challenges for Ukraine and Moldova, as some EU countries are insisting on maintaining a geographical balance between candidates from Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
Euronews reports this, citing EU diplomats.
Ukraine has opened two of the six negotiation clusters in recent weeks, but further acceleration of the process may face demands to simultaneously advance Serbia’s application.
“Progress in one direction creates pressure to move forward in the other as well,” one European diplomat told Euronews.
In early July, the European Commission once again recommended opening Cluster 3—dedicated to competitiveness and inclusive growth—for Serbia. Negotiations regarding Serbia have effectively remained stalled since December 2021.
However, eight EU member states opposed opening the chapter: the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Denmark, Luxembourg, and Latvia are also not yet ready to support this decision. The consent of all 27 EU member states is required to open a negotiation chapter.
Opponents of Serbia’s advancement point to Belgrade’s insufficient progress in the areas of the rule of law, judicial independence, and democratic standards. Another reason is Serbia’s refusal to join the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
The European Commission, on the other hand, believes that Belgrade has implemented some of the recommendations, repealed controversial changes to judicial legislation, improved cooperation with the EU on foreign policy, and strengthened ties with Ukraine. At the same time, Brussels acknowledges that Serbia needs to continue reforming its judicial and prosecutorial systems.
France, Spain, and a group of countries calling themselves the “Friends of the Western Balkans” advocate for preserving Serbia’s membership prospects. They fear that Ukraine’s rapid progress against the backdrop of Belgrade’s prolonged stagnation will be perceived as the application of double standards.
Euronews emphasizes that the negotiation processes for Ukraine and Serbia have not yet been formally merged. However, as Kyiv and Chisinau push to open the remaining clusters by the end of the year, demands for equal treatment of the candidate countries may intensify.
Wholesale trade led the way in terms of net growth in the number of companies in Ukraine during the first half of 2026, according to Opendatabot. The number of legal entities in the wholesale trade sector increased by 2,304 thousand over the six-month period.
The information technology sector took second place, with a net increase of 1,254 thousand companies. In the real estate sector, the number of companies increased by 1,104 thousand.
The top five sectors with the largest growth also included non-profit organizations, which increased by 859, and building and grounds maintenance companies, which increased by 824.
At the same time, the number of legal entities decreased in a number of sectors. The largest decline was recorded in public administration and defense—a decrease of 289 companies.
In the education sector, the number of legal entities decreased by 282; in veterinary services, by 20; in water supply, by 14; and in the creative, arts, and entertainment sectors, by 11.
In total, 19,758 thousand new companies were registered in Ukraine from January through June 2026, while the number of business closures stood at 6,563 thousand. The net increase in businesses reached 13,195 thousand.
According to Serbian Economist, Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive €140.5 million in grant funding from the European Union following the country’s Presidency’s ratification of the IPA III package for 2025–2027.
The EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina announced the completion of the ratification on July 25. The funds are intended to bring the country’s legislation and institutions into line with European standards, support economic development, and implement reforms.
“The European Union remains Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most consistent partner,” the EU Delegation stated in its announcement.
The funding is provided under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III). According to the program approved by the European Commission, of the total amount, 30 million euros are allocated for 2025, 38.5 million euros for 2026, and 72 million euros for 2027. All funding is in the form of grants and does not require repayment.
The program covers four main areas: the rule of law, fundamental rights, and democracy; public administration and the alignment of legislation with EU standards; the “green” agenda and sustainable infrastructure; and enhancing competitiveness and inclusive economic growth.
https://t.me/relocationrs/3322
Jurisprudential Consulting Group, an international consulting group with Ukrainian roots, has announced the launch of a comprehensive European practice to support Ukrainian companies, entrepreneurs, and capital owners during relocation and entry into new markets, the company reported.
The new practice combines international tax planning, corporate structuring, capital legalization and proof of funds’ origin, banking compliance, financial logistics, crypto regulation, as well as legal defense in cross-border economic disputes and criminal cases.
The firm attributes the launch of this practice to the changing needs of Ukrainian businesses following a large-scale relocation. While in the initial phase entrepreneurs primarily needed company registration, a bank account, and immigration status, today the main issues concern the tax residency of owners, the place of effective management, dividend structures, the bank’s acceptance of capital, and the implications of using foreign companies from the country of actual residence.
“For Ukrainian businesses in Europe, it is no longer enough to simply open a company. It is necessary to understand in advance where management is located, where income is generated, how funds will reach the owner’s personal accounts, and what documents the bank will accept. The company, tax residency, family, assets, and future expenses must all be part of a single model,” noted Yaroslav Meretskyi, co-founder and CEO of Jurisprudential Consulting Group.
Photo. From left to right: Heorhii Voinovych, Yaroslav Meretskyi, Vladyslav Kaprytsia, partners at Jurisprudential Consulting Group
The new practice combines international tax planning, corporate structuring, capital legalization and proof of funds’ origin, banking compliance, financial logistics, crypto regulation, as well as legal defense in cross-border economic disputes and criminal cases.
The firm attributes the launch of this practice to changing demands from Ukrainian businesses following a large-scale relocation. While in the initial phase entrepreneurs primarily needed company registration, a bank account, and migration status, today the main issues concern the tax residency of owners, the place of effective management, dividend structures, the bank’s acceptance of capital, and the implications of using foreign companies from the country of actual residence.
“For Ukrainian businesses in Europe, it is no longer enough to simply open a company. You need to understand in advance where management is located, where income is generated, how money will flow into the owner’s personal accounts, and what documents the bank will accept. The company, tax residency, family, assets, and future expenses must all be part of a single model,” noted Yaroslav Meretskyi co-founder and CEO of Jurisprudential Consulting Group.
The Jurisprudential team consists of more than 50 specialists; the company conducts over 3,000 consultations annually and provides regular support to more than 200 clients. Jurisprudential notes that the new format is designed to bring together the work of tax consultants, financial advisors, corporate lawyers, compliance specialists, and attorneys across different jurisdictions around a single client strategy.
The practice is managed by its three co-founders. Yaroslav Meretskyi is responsible for strategic development, international taxation, crypto regulation, relocation, and public affairs. Heorhii Voinovych oversees financial architecture and tax modeling. His professional experience includes serving as CFO for large agricultural holdings, commodity companies, banks, and fintech projects. Vladyslav Kaprytsia is responsible for international corporate and contract law, complex transactions, risk analysis, commercial disputes, and international legal defense.
A separate practice area focuses on economic criminal cases, international fugitive searches, and coordinating defense strategies across multiple countries. The firm works with external legal teams and handles cases involving simultaneous corporate, tax, banking, and criminal law risks, including matters involving national law enforcement agencies, Interpol, and Europol.
“Financial logistics and money laundering are not the same thing. A payment can be made technically, but that does not mean its origin will stand up to scrutiny by a bank or tax authority. The market is flooded with temporary schemes: fictitious loans, formal brokerage agreements, and documents that do not correspond to any actual transaction. Usually, such solutions do not eliminate the problem but merely postpone it for two or three years,” said Meretskyi.
According to him, a loan as an instrument can be legal only if there is a real lender, a verified source of funds, commercial logic, repayment terms, and actual performance of the agreement. If the loan is not repaid, there is a risk that it will be reclassified as income. If it is repaid, legally earned and documented funds will still be required for repayment.
As part of its new practice, Jurisprudential plans to support Ukrainian businesses throughout the entire international expansion process: from selecting a country and a tax model to establishing a holding company, setting up financial infrastructure, preparing proof of capital origin, working with cryptoassets, and providing legal defense in the event of a cross-border dispute.
The company also intends to expand its partner network to include European attorneys, tax consultants, banks, payment institutions, fintech projects, and regulated crypto-asset service providers. Jurisprudential believes that such a network should reduce the number of situations where a client receives separate but conflicting recommendations in different countries.
Jurisprudential was founded in Ukraine in 2011. The group’s international expansion began in 2019, and its European expansion accelerated following the relocation of its Ukrainian operations. Its headquarters are located in Barcelona. According to the company, the group also has offices in London, Warsaw, and Tallinn and works with partners and corporate entities in other jurisdictions across Europe, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the UAE.
Jurisprudential Consulting Group is a member of the Association of European Attorneys and has representative offices in EU countries, the United Kingdom, and the UAE.
Background. Jurisprudential Consulting Group is an international legal and financial consulting group with Ukrainian roots. Its main areas of focus include international tax planning, tax residency, corporate structuring, capital legalization, proof of funds’ origin, banking compliance, crypto regulation, business relocation, and international legal protection. Quantitative indicators are based on the company’s internal data.
Jurisprudential Consulting Group is also developing its own educational program focused on international taxation, business relocation, banking compliance, capital structuring, crypto regulation, and doing business in Europe. The company regularly publishes analytical articles, practical case studies, and recommendations on its official website; produces educational content on Instagram and YouTube; and conducts interviews and podcasts with entrepreneurs, tax advisors, lawyers, bankers, and other experts who have successfully established themselves in the European market following relocation. This format allows Ukrainian entrepreneurs to access up-to-date practical information and promptly adapt to changes in European legislation and financial sector requirements. You can find more information on the official website https://www.jurisprudential.eu, on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jurisprudential.eu, and on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jurisprudential.
Kyiv ranked first among Ukraine’s regions in terms of net growth in the number of companies in the first half of 2026, according to Opendatabot, citing data from the Unified State Register.
The number of legal entities in the capital increased by 5,338 thousand over the six-month period. Thus, Kyiv accounted for over 40% of the total net increase in companies in Ukraine, which amounted to 13,195 thousand.
Lviv Oblast took second place with an increase of 1,220 thousand companies, while Dnipropetrovsk Oblast came in third, where the number of legal entities rose by 1,177 thousand.
An increase in the number of companies was recorded in 23 regions of Ukraine, while a decrease was observed in four.
The largest decreases were observed in regions near the front lines. In the Donetsk region, the number of companies decreased by 157, and in the Luhansk region, by 73.
Among the largest companies by revenue that have ceased operations or are in the process of liquidation, “PromoFly” leads the list with revenue of 3 billion UAH for 2025. The company is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Next are “Vasaris-K” and “Volynmet,” each with revenue of 1.8 billion UAH. Both companies are also undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
The top ten companies in the process of dissolution also include “Power UA,” “Luminovik Group,” “Grovbudgroup,” “Merezha-Service Lviv,” “Intropack Plus,” “Volt Age Plus,” and “Proteya-K.” All of them were in the process of liquidation at the time this study was prepared.
