In 2024, revenues in Ukraine’s extractive industry grew by 27.8% to UAH 639.4 billion, the highest figure since the start of the full-scale war, according to data released by VKURSI Market BI, a market analysis service based on data from state registers.
“Compared to 2023, the market grew by 27.8% (UAH 500.1 billion). In 2023, the industry lost 12.8% of its revenue compared to 2022, when it amounted to UAH 573.3 billion,” according to the results of a study based on an analysis of data from 4,799 registered companies in the industry, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
It is noted that in 2024, the mining industry’s profit reached UAH 119.6 billion, which is twice as much as a year earlier (UAH 56.8 billion). Thus, the sector not only compensated for the previous decline but also exceeded the 2022 level by 38.1%, when the profit amounted to UAH 86.6 billion.
VKURSI clarified that the study covers companies that are actually registered under the KVED (Classifier of Economic Activities) and indicate their activities in the extraction market. These include companies engaged in the extraction of hard coal and brown coal, crude oil and natural gas, metal ores, other minerals, as well as the development of quarries. Companies providing auxiliary services in this field were also taken into account.
The authors of the report emphasize that the Cabinet of Ministers, at the initiative of the Ministry of Energy, has clarified the requirements for reports of mining companies. In particular, they must now report on the ultimate beneficial owner and indicate whether they belong to the category of politically exposed persons. This decision is in line with international corporate governance standards, in particular the requirements of the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Thus, in 2024, 8 of the 50 most profitable companies in the industry were found to have links to national public figures or persons associated with them.
According to the study, the state plays a key role in the industry, represented by the two most profitable companies in the industry: JSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya, with a profit of UAH 52.69 billion in 2024, and JSC Ukrnafta, with a profit of UAH 20.91 billion.
At the same time, the market remains diversified: 28 of the 50 most profitable companies have foreign capital. Companies from the Netherlands (13 companies) and Cyprus (8 companies) are most actively represented in the ownership structure, and 7 of the 50 companies are registered in offshore jurisdictions according to the Cabinet of Ministers’ list.
VKURSI claims that 4 out of 50 companies have remote ties to Russia or Belarus, for example, through their status as shareholders of other companies that also have shareholders from these countries, in 3 out of 50 companies, there are matches between the founders and beneficiaries and individuals included in the NSDC sanctions lists.
The platform also adds that 13 out of 50 companies do not have ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) for various reasons: the owner is the state of Ukraine; there is no natural person who directly or indirectly owns more than 25% of the share capital; the ownership structure includes a public company whose shares are admitted to trading on stock exchanges, and there are no natural persons among its shareholders who own 10% or more; the BEC mark has been removed at the request of the Ministry of Justice, which may occur in cases where the company has provided inaccurate or incomplete information about the BEC, the company or legal entities are subject to sanctions or investigation, or by court order.
It is also noted that 12 of the 50 companies are part of financial and industrial groups. In particular, Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM group is represented by 11 companies, and another one is part of the Privat group. However, the presence of large private capital often goes hand in hand with the modernization of enterprises and the introduction of ESG standards, which has a positive impact on the reputation of the Ukrainian extractive industry in international markets, the authors of the study add.
