According to Experts.news, Malta took first place in the ranking of the world’s most valuable passports according to the Nomad Passport Index 2026, compiled by Nomad Capitalist. The country scored 109 points, ahead of Ireland, Greece, and Romania, which tied for second place with 108 points.
Unlike traditional passport rankings, which primarily consider the number of visa-free destinations, the Nomad Passport Index evaluates citizenship more broadly—as a tool for global mobility, tax planning, personal freedom, and international reputation. The methodology uses five criteria: visa-free access, taxation of citizens, the country’s global reputation, the possibility of holding dual citizenship, and the level of personal freedoms.
The top ten of the ranking looks like this: Malta—1st place, Ireland, Greece, and Romania—2nd place, Cyprus—5th place, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Italy, and Bulgaria—6th place, Hungary and the UAE—10th place. Thus, the top of the ranking is dominated by European countries, particularly EU member states, which combine a high level of mobility, the ability to live and work within the single European area, and a relatively strong international reputation.
Malta scored 172 points for travel, 40 points for taxation, and the maximum 50 points for international perception, dual citizenship, and personal freedoms. This balance allowed it to take first place, despite the fact that it lags behind a number of other passports in terms of the number of visa-free destinations.
An interesting feature of the ranking was Romania’s high placement, which tied for second place with Ireland and Greece. Romanian citizenship received 108 points, including 172 points for travel, 40 points for taxation, 40 points for country perception, and top marks for dual citizenship and freedoms.
Singapore, which often ranks first in passport rankings for visa-free access, came in only 20th in the Nomad Passport Index. Its passport has a high travel score of 175, but a low score for dual citizenship limits the overall result. This highlights a key difference in the Nomad Capitalist ranking: it evaluates not only travel freedom but also the practical flexibility of citizenship for globally mobile people.
The U.S. ranked 43rd with 100 points. Despite strong international perception and a high level of mobility, U.S. citizenship receives a low score on the tax criterion, as the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that taxes its citizens based on citizenship rather than residency alone.
Global steel production in April 2026 fell by 1.9% compared to the same period in 2025, to 153.449 million tons, according to data from the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
China remains the leader in global steel production, having reduced output in April by 2.8% compared to April of last year—to 83.630 million tons. India took second place with a 3.9% increase in production to 13.829 million tons. The U.S. increased production by 9.4% to 7.160 million tons and ranked third.
The top ten steel producers in April also included Japan—6.620 million tons (+0.3%), South Korea—5.245 million tons (+4.8%), Russia—5.020 million tons (-12.4%), Turkey—3.291 million tons (+9.4%), Germany—3.233 million tons (+9.5%), Brazil – 2.720 million tons (+2.8%), and Vietnam – 2.130 million tons (+4%).
Iran recorded the largest percentage decline among the countries included in Worldsteel’s statistics in April, with steel production falling by 45.7% to 1.8 million tons.
In April 2026, Ukraine ranked 25th among 69 countries in the Worldsteel ranking. Ukrainian steel mills produced 517,000 tons of steel during the month, which is 25.3% less than in April 2025, when the figure stood at 692,000 tons. Compared to March 2026, when 702,000 tons were produced, the decline amounted to 26.3%.
In the January–April 2026 period, global steel production decreased by 2% compared to the same period last year, to 613.323 million tons.
The top ten steel-producing countries for the four-month period are as follows: China – 331.120 million tons (-4.1%), India – 58.681 million tons (+9.4%), the U.S. – 28.140 million tons (+6.6%), Japan – 26.670 million tons (-1.2%), South Korea – 21.041 million tons (+2.5%), Russia – 20.570 million tons (-12%), Turkey – 13.037 million tons (+6.3%), Germany – 12.493 million tons (+9.1%), Brazil – 10.793 million tons (-1.6%), and Vietnam – 8.520 million tons (+8.4%).
In January–April 2026, Ukraine reduced its steel output by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2025—from 2.425 million tons to 2.246 million tons. At the end of the four-month period, the country ranked 24th in the global ranking.
As reported, at the end of 2025, the world’s largest steel producers were China—960.810 million tons (-4.4%), India—164.887 million tons (+10.4%), the United States—81.951 million tons (+3.1%), Japan—80.679 million tons (-4%), Russia—67.820 million tons (-4.5%), South Korea—61.882 million tons (-2.8%), Turkey—38.118 million tons (+3.3%), Germany – 34.090 million tons (-8.6%), Brazil – 33.347 million tons (-1.6%), and Iran – 31.8 million tons (+1.4%).
In total, 70 countries produced 1,803.774 million tons of steel in 2025, which is 2% less than in 2024.
In 2025, Ukraine produced 7.409 million tons of steel, which is 2.2% less than in 2024. At the end of last year, the country ranked 21st in the global ranking of steel producers.
The leader has changed in 6 regions
OpenDataBot has updated its annual ranking of Ukraine’s largest employers in each region, based on an analysis of financial reporting data from Ukrainian companies. The leader has changed in 6 regions, and 8 companies from the ranking have been included in the OpenDataBot Index 2026.
The largest employer in the capital and in Ukraine as a whole remains, as usual, Ukrzaliznytsia — 169,952 employees. Over the year, the number of employees there decreased by 4.9%. Ukrzaliznytsia is also among the top ten companies in the OpenDataBot Index in the transport and logistics sector.
The leader in the Dnipropetrovsk region remains ATB-Market—46,649 employees. Over the past year, the company’s workforce increased by 1.2%. The company belongs to the ATB Group and is also included in the list of businesses featured in the OpenDataBot Index in the retail sector. It is worth noting that ATB is one of the country’s largest employers overall.
In Poltava Oblast, Aurora (Vygidna Pokupka LLC) leads the way with 14,590 employees. Over the past year, the company managed to increase its workforce by 16%. In addition, Aurora is among the top ten businesses in the OpenDataBot Index for the retail sector.
Zaporizhstal, which is also part of the OpenDataBot Index, became the leader in the Zaporizhzhia region. The company employs 8,039 people. Compared to 2024, the workforce decreased by 6.3%. The company is also part of Rinat Akhmetov’s financial and industrial SCM Group.
Volyn is in the spotlight this year—WOG (Petrol Contract LLC), part of the Continium Group, has 5,490 employees and showed record workforce growth of nearly 1.7 times. In response to a request from OpenDataBot, WOG explained that the company underwent a consolidation of legal entities last year. Therefore, the increase in headcount is related more to organizational changes than to a real increase in the number of jobs. This allowed the company to become the new regional leader, displacing Kromberg & Schubert Ukraine Ltd. WOG also made it into this year’s OpenDataBot Index in the retail sector.
In the Kyiv region, the largest employer is the Fora chain of stores, part of the Fozzy Group, with 9,462 employees. Over the year, the workforce grew by 3%. The company also made it onto this year’s OpenDataBot Index in the retail sector.
Vinnytsia Poultry Farm leads in Vinnytsia Oblast and employs 6,636 people: +11.3% over the year. The company is part of the MHP Group and also took first place in the agriculture sector in this year’s OpenDataBot Index.
In Lviv Oblast, the largest employer is OKKO-Drive with 6,579 employees. The number of employees decreased by 2% over the year. The company is part of the OKKO Group.
In Zhytomyr Oblast, another participant in the OpenDataBot Index leads the way—the UPG gas station chain (Ukrpaletsystem LLC)—with 4,154 employees. Over the year, the company increased its workforce by 8%. The company is part of the UPG Group.
In the Kirovohrad region, the largest employer this year is the Faino Market chain (Veresen Plus LLC), which has 3,569 employees. Over the year, the number of employees increased by 7%.
The Ternopil region is represented by the cable network factory Se Bordnetz-Ukraine with 3,215 employees: -9% over the year.
Flextronics TZOV is the largest employer in Zakarpattia. The company’s workforce decreased by 6% over the year to 2,408 employees.
In the Chernivtsi region, the Taystra Group retail chain has been the leader for the second year in a row, with 1,163 employees. At the same time, the number of employees decreased by 6% over the year.
In the Kherson region, Taurt Medical (Medicgroup LLC) is the leader this year. The company employs 426 people: a 6% decrease over the year.
In 10 regions of Ukraine, the largest employers are companies that supply the country with electricity:
One in five business leaders in Ukraine earns over 10 million UAH
There are currently 74,000 business leaders in Ukraine who earn over 10 million UAH annually and file their financial reports on time. The vast majority of them—72%—are men. Rinat Akhmetov, Vitaliy Antonov, and Andriy Verevskyi made it into the top three richest businessmen in Ukraine. Nearly a quarter of the businessmen are registered in Kyiv.
There are currently 74,000 businesspeople in Ukraine whose companies generate between 10 million UAH and 100 million UAH in revenue. This represents one-fifth of all company owners who submitted annual reports—360,000 businesspeople. Only 28% of the businesspeople on the list are women.
Follow the leaders on the Ukrainian Businessmen Ranking page. If you are a company owner and your business submits financial reports on time and regularly—look for yourself on the list.
Over the year, the ranking grew: 9,122 participants dropped out, while 15,450 were added. The net increase in the ranking was 6,328 businesspeople. Positions have also changed; only 21 participants retained their spots. Meanwhile, 37% of businesspeople rose in the ranking, while 42% lost ground.
Nearly a quarter of all businesspeople are registered in Kyiv—16,230. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast follows (7,204 businesspeople) and Lviv Oblast (5,878). Together, these three regions account for about 40% of the top tier.
Most operate in the “mid-tier” segment of big business: 79% have revenues ranging from 10 to 100 million UAH. Another 19% generate between 100 million and 1 billion UAH, and only 2% are true giants with a turnover exceeding 1 billion UAH.
The “entry threshold” for the country’s 100 richest businesspeople rose to 9.96 billion UAH in 2025. This is 11% higher than in 2024. To make it into the top 1,000, a company must have at least 1.5 billion UAH in revenue.
Since the publication of the 2025 Businessmen Ranking, changes have occurred in the list—in particular, due to updated financial statements. Consequently, the top ten has been updated.
As of now, taking into account the updated financial statements, the top 10 businessmen of 2026 look like this:
Rinat Akhmetov remains the undisputed leader with corporate revenue exceeding 843 billion UAH. Second and third places are held by Vitaliy Antonov (164 billion UAH) and Andriy Verevskyi (149.7 billion UAH). The top ten also includes Yuriy Kosyuk, Volodymyr Kostelman, Oleksiy Poroshenko, and Dmytro Firtash. The only woman in the top 10 is Svitlana Ivakhiv, who rounds out the top 10 with revenue of approximately 46.9 billion UAH.
69 of the top 100 business owners are registered in Ukraine. The list also includes representatives from Cyprus (7%), the U.S. and the U.K. (5% each), Switzerland (4%), and other countries, including the UAE, Germany, and Monaco.
An income of 10+ million UAH was chosen as the threshold for the ranking. This is precisely the threshold above which the single tax no longer applies and the line beyond which a venture begins to qualify as a business—with corporate structuring, reporting, and all applicable taxes. The list may change as financial reports are updated.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/businessmen-2026
Who Hired the Most Employees Last Year?
OpenDataBot has compiled a ranking of the largest employers in 2026 based on companies’ financial reports. The top three remain unchanged, while the rest of the ranking has seen minor changes: Silpo has overtaken Ukrposhta. Overall, only six of the top ten companies increased their workforce last year.
Ukrzaliznytsia has remained the largest employer for over five years, but its workforce is gradually shrinking. Over the year, the company’s workforce decreased by 5%—to 169,952 employees. Overall, since the start of the full-scale war, the company’s workforce has decreased by 27% or 62,800 people.
Second place is held by ATB with 46,649 employees. Over the past year, the company expanded its team by 565 people (+1%), but since the start of the full-scale war, it has lost 14,133 employees (-23%).
“Over the past year, more than 2,300 new jobs were created at the corporation’s enterprises. On average, the company offers up to 200 job openings to job seekers every month. Current circumstances require us to improve work processes and increase labor productivity—in particular, the automation of many operational algorithms is proceeding at a rapid pace. Throughout these four difficult years of full-scale war, we are proud that, despite all the challenges, we have managed to retain the core of our teams at every retail location. “This is a victory for our store managers and their deputies, who directly organize the work of their subordinates on the ground,” — commented ATB.
Third place goes to Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine, which employs 39,444 people. Over the year, the company added 1,770 employees (+5%) — the largest growth among the top ten.
Silpo overtook Ukrposhta and rose to fourth place with 32,367 employees. Over the year, 1,001 people joined the team (+3%), but compared to 2021, the company lost 9,808 employees (-23%).
Ukrposhta, now in fifth place, has 31,739 employees—its headcount remained unchanged over the year, but the long-term decline is significant: a loss of 30,634 people (-49%) compared to 2021.
Nova Poshta holds the sixth position with 27,572 employees. Over the past year, the company’s workforce has not undergone any significant changes (+0.2%), while since 2021, its workforce has decreased by 2,218 employees (-7%). Nova Poshta explains that the overall reduction in staff is primarily due to the war, employee migration, and changes in operational processes. Going forward, the company’s focus is on retaining key employees and developing an internal talent pool.
“Right now, we’re prioritizing people development: investing in training, mental health support, flexible work arrangements, and expanding our pool of candidates, particularly by hiring veterans, IDPs, and older workers,” notes Anna-Maria Bondarenko, HR Director at Nova Poshta.
The largest percentage change in headcount over the year occurred at Energoatom: -6%. In total, since 2021, the company has lost 8,087 employees (-24%). Currently, according to financial reports, the company employs 25,740 people.
In eighth place is Lisy Ukrainy with 22,252 employees. Currently, the company has the status of “in the process of dissolution” due to a reorganization. At the same time, this company recorded the largest percentage decrease in staff among the top ten last year: -6% (-1,465 people).
Ninth place is held by Ukrnafta—19,583 employees. Over the year, the company grew by 657 people (+4%). However, since 2021, Ukrnafta’s workforce has decreased by 1,213 employees (–6%).
Rounding out the top ten is Ukrgazvydobuvannya with 17,794 employees: +477 people over the year (+3%). This is the only company in the top ten that has increased its workforce since the start of the full-scale war: +979 employees (+6%).
“We ensure Ukraine’s energy independence. Professional and motivated employees are our key asset, guaranteeing the company’s stability and the effective development of fields. Our challenge is to preserve and develop the team’s technical competencies, attract and train young people, and build an elite team for the exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits,” comments Oleksandr Pimkin, Director of Human Capital at JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannya.”
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/top-employer-2026
The Ukrainian passport has taken 28th place in the updated 2026 Henley Passport Index and grants visa-free access to 142 destinations. This is according to the global ranking by Henley & Partners.
Regionally, Ukraine ranks ahead of Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and Georgia.
Singapore remains the leader of the global ranking with 192 destinations offering visa-free or simplified entry. Japan, South Korea, and the UAE are tied for second place with 187 destinations, followed by a group of countries with 186.
Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Pakistan remain at the bottom of the ranking. The Afghan passport was again named the world’s weakest in the March edition of the index, with access to only 24 destinations.
For Ukraine, 28th place signifies the preservation of relatively strong international mobility even amid war and foreign policy turbulence. From a practical standpoint, this is important for labor migration, travel to Europe, business activity, and educational mobility.
The Henley Passport Index is one of the world’s most renowned passport power rankings. It is published by Henley & Partners based on data from IATA, the largest international database on visa regulations, and its own analysis. The index covers 199 passports and 227 destinations and assesses the number of countries and territories citizens can visit without a pre-arranged visa. That is why the ranking is widely used as an international benchmark for freedom of movement, although it reflects visa mobility rather than a country’s overall level of development.
