Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Nearly one-third of Ukraine’s companies with zero revenue for several years are registered in Kyiv

Kyiv leads among Ukraine’s regions in the number of active companies that have reported zero revenue for at least two consecutive years or have not filled in the corresponding field in their financial statements.
According to Opendatabot, 15,078 such companies are registered in the capital, accounting for nearly 29% of the country’s total.
In total, there are 52,202 active commercial companies in Ukraine that have filed financial statements showing zero or blank revenue for at least the last two consecutive years.
The Dnipropetrovsk region ranks second—3,998 companies, or about 8% of the total. There are 3,663 such companies registered in the Kharkiv region and 3,471 in the Odesa region.
Thus, Kyiv and the three largest regions alone account for more than half of all companies in the country that have not reported any revenue in their financial statements for a long time.
One in four companies in the studied group has been in this state for three consecutive years, and 4,600 enterprises have not reported any revenue for five years.
The most common legal form among such enterprises remains the LLC—accounting for 42,383 companies, or 81% of the sample.
According to Opendatabot’s assessment, one of the reasons for the continued existence of legally active but effectively inactive enterprises is the complexity of the liquidation procedure. In addition, some companies may have suspended operations due to the war, the loss of production capacity, or the loss of sales markets.
Source: Opendatabot

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More than 52,000 companies in Ukraine have reported zero revenue for at least two years

In Ukraine, 52,200 active companies have filed annual financial statements showing zero revenue—or have not reported any revenue at all—for at least two consecutive years, according to data from the Unified State Register analyzed by Opendatabot.
About a quarter of these companies have reported zero or blank revenue figures for three consecutive years, and 4,600 companies—or roughly one in eleven—have been in this situation for five years.
The largest number of companies with a long-standing lack of declared revenue is registered in Kyiv—15,078, or nearly 29% of the total.
The Dnipropetrovsk region accounts for 3,998 such companies, or about 8%; the Kharkiv region, 3,663; and the Odesa region, 3,471.
The most common sector of activity for these companies is wholesale trade. This sector accounts for 9,894 companies, or about 19% of the sample studied.
Another 5,523 companies operate in real estate, 4,279 in construction, and 3,426 in agriculture.
The majority of enterprises that have long reported no income are registered as limited liability companies—42,383 companies, or 81% of the sample. Another 7,673 are private enterprises, and 1,691 are farms.
Denis Popov, head of the legal department at Opendatabot, attributes the persistence of such a large number of these companies, in particular, to the complexity of the business liquidation process.
“One of the reasons companies remain registered for years without generating any income is the complex procedure for closing them down. To officially terminate a business, one must settle obligations to creditors and the government and complete the required procedures, which takes time and money,” he noted.
According to him, zero revenue does not necessarily mean that operations have actually ceased. Some businesses may have temporarily suspended operations due to full-scale war, the loss of production capacity, employees, or sales markets.
The analysis included active commercial companies of various legal forms that had filed financial statements with zero or blank revenue for at least the last two consecutive years. Nonprofit organizations were not included in the study.
Source: Opendatabot

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British Business Center for Industrial Cooperation Opens in Kyiv

The Kyiv Business Center has begun operations in the Ukrainian capital, with the aim of ensuring a permanent presence of British companies in the country and deepening industrial ties between the two nations, according to the UK government’s press service.

The hub was established through close collaboration between the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group, industrial partners, and the UK financial sector as part of the “100-Year Partnership” initiative.

“The KBC provides British companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a base from which they can build trusting relationships with Ukrainian partners, obtain information on the situation on the battlefield, and pursue opportunities for joint development, co-production, and investment,” the statement reads.

It is noted that, until now, the cost, security requirements, and administrative complexity of doing business in Ukraine have made it difficult for small firms to establish a presence in the country.

Luke Pollard, Minister for Defense Readiness and Industry, commenting on the center’s opening, stated that KBC will help unlock new opportunities for investment, growth, and long-term recovery.

“By supporting British companies in Kyiv, we are deepening our ‘100-year partnership’ and turning our shared determination into shared innovation,” he emphasized.

The KBC’s operating model is based on three principles: industry, innovation, and investment, providing members with access to a networking platform that helps forge partnerships, attract investment, and expand production and capacity.

National Director of Armaments Rupert Pierce met with leading industry representatives and small and medium-sized businesses to mark the launch of the center, which brings together British and Ukrainian industry.

“This new facility is not just a center; it is a permanent channel that transforms the UK’s ability to collaborate fruitfully with our Ukrainian partners, both now and in the long term. Until now, costs, security concerns, and other restrictions caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion have made it difficult for companies—especially small ones—to operate in Ukraine. Our previous trade missions successfully addressed some of these challenges—this center removes these barriers by providing British companies with a permanent presence in Kyiv, opening up real opportunities for innovation, investment, and exports,” he emphasized.

The center’s operating model builds on more than 40 existing major industrial partnerships between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, as well as on the success of the UK Ministry of Defense’s trade missions to Ukraine. KBC also supports Ukrainian companies seeking British industrial partners or establishing subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.

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Nataliia Haidt Appointed Executive Director of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine

Nataliia Haidt has been appointed Executive Director of the Association “Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine” (UDEU) effective October 2, 2026, the association’s press service reported.

Haidt has two higher education degrees — in economics and law — as well as experience in managerial positions at state-owned enterprises and commercial organizations. Since 2021, she has cooperated with UDEU as an expert and project manager.

Among her main tasks in the new position, Haidt named representing the interests of the dairy business before the government, the Verkhovna Rada and international partners, as well as adapting the industry to the requirements of the European Union.

“Ukraine’s dairy industry operates amid war, energy instability, a shortage of personnel, a logistics crisis and other challenges. At the same time, we face the task of harmonization with the requirements of the European Union. Each of these crises is a challenge for the entire chain: from farm to shelf,” Haidt noted.

According to her, UDEU will continue to promptly communicate the position of industry enterprises to the authorities and international partners and propose practical solutions to the problems of the dairy sector.

“The strength of the dairy business in this difficult time lies in unity and cohesion,” the new Executive Director emphasized.

The previous Executive Director of UDEU, Arsen Didur, completed his work in the position on September 30, 2026.

The Association “Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine” represents the interests of dairy industry enterprises and participates in interaction between business and state authorities on the regulation and development of the dairy sector.

 

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In Ukraine, 66,600 more sole proprietorships were opened than closed over course of nine months – Opendatabot

In Ukraine, 222,300 new sole proprietorships were registered from January through September 2026, while 155,600 sole proprietorships ceased operations. Thus, the number of new registrations exceeded the number of closures by 66,600, according to data from the Unified State Register analyzed by Opendatabot.
The number of new sole proprietors remained virtually unchanged compared to the same period in 2025, while the number of closures dropped by 27% at once.
In total, since the beginning of the year, 222,288 new sole proprietors have been registered in Ukraine, while 155,645 have ceased operations. The net increase amounted to 66,643 entrepreneurs.
However, the trend throughout the year was uneven. More new sole proprietorships were registered in January, March, April, and May than in the corresponding months of the previous year. In February, June, July, August, and September, the number of registrations was lower than last year’s.
Despite this, September set a record for 2026 in terms of the number of new businesses—approximately 27,400 new sole proprietorships were registered.
Opendatabot notes that any comparison with the beginning of 2025 must take a technical factor into account. The sharp increase in the number of business closures in January of last year was due to the suspension of state registries in December 2024, when entrepreneurs were effectively unable to register the opening or closure of a business.
The largest number of new sole proprietorships over the nine-month period was registered in Kyiv—27,300. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ranked second with 22,300, followed by Lviv Oblast with 17,200, Odesa Oblast with 16,700, and Kyiv Oblast with 16,500.
Retail trade remains the leading business sector. It was chosen by 60,300 new entrepreneurs, accounting for more than a quarter of all sole proprietorships registered since the beginning of the year.
Computer programming attracted 16,700 new entrepreneurs, while wholesale trade drew 16,600. Another 10,700 registrations each were recorded in education and food and beverage services.
At the same time, retail trade also leads in the number of business closures—over the course of nine months, 49,400 sole proprietorships in this sector shut down. In computer programming, 17,100 entrepreneurs ceased operations; in wholesale trade, 11,700; and in the food service sector, 7,900.
In 22 regions of Ukraine, the number of sole proprietorships opened exceeded the number that closed. A negative balance was recorded in only three frontline regions—the Donetsk, Kherson, and Luhansk regions.

Source: Opendatabot’s “FOPonomics” study for the first nine months of 2026.

 

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In Ukraine, net increase in number of sole proprietors exceeded 66,600 over nine months

Kyiv led all regions of Ukraine in net growth of sole proprietorships (FOPs) from January through September 2026—the number of businesses opened exceeded the number of businesses closed by 7,751, according to data from the Unified State Register analyzed by Opendatabot and the Experts Club analytical center.

Over the course of nine months, approximately 27,300 new sole proprietorships were registered in the capital, the highest figure in the country. At the same time, approximately 19,500 entrepreneurs in the capital ceased operations.

The Dnipropetrovsk region ranked second in terms of net growth, with an increase of 7,333 sole proprietorships. Next came the Lviv region with an increase of 6,963 entrepreneurs, the Kyiv region with 6,510, and the Odesa region with 5,143.

Overall, positive trends were recorded in 22 regions of Ukraine.

A decline in the number of entrepreneurs occurred in only three regions near the front lines. It was most significant in the Donetsk region, where the number of closures exceeded the number of new registrations by 1,120 sole proprietorships. In the Kherson region, the net decrease was 397 entrepreneurs, and in the Luhansk region, 203.

At the same time, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ranks second not only in terms of net growth but also in the absolute number of new registrations—22,300 sole proprietorships were established there over the nine-month period.

In Lviv Oblast, 17,200 new entrepreneurs were registered; in Odesa Oblast, 16,700; and in Kyiv Oblast, 16,500.

In terms of the number of closures, the Dnipropetrovsk region follows Kyiv with 14,900 sole proprietorships. In the Odesa and Kharkiv regions, approximately 11,500 entrepreneurs each ceased operations, and in the Lviv region, 10,200 did so.

In total, 222,288 new sole proprietorships were established in Ukraine during the first nine months of 2026, while 155,645 were closed. The net increase in small businesses amounted to 66,643 sole proprietorships.

Source: Opendatabot — sole proprietorship statistics for January–September 2026.

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