Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Asters tops ranking of Ukrainian law firms by revenue in the first half of 2026 — Experts Club

According to calculations by the Experts Club analytical center based on data from Opendatabot, the combined revenue of the ten largest companies in the first half of 2026 amounted to approximately UAH 1.83 billion. A year earlier, their total revenue stood at approximately UAH 1.28 billion. Thus, the revenue of the top 10 increased by approximately 43%.

Rank Company Revenue 2026, UAH million Year-on-year change
1 Asters 476.8 +18.7%
2 Aequo 234.9 +132.5%
3 Avellum Partners 192.4 +113.9%
4 Sayenko Kharenko 176.4 +18.6%
5 CMS Cameron McKenna LLC 172.5 +56.6%
6 Sayenko Kharenko Ukraine 134.4 +105.9%
7 Ader Haber 125.6 +32.9%
8 Vasil Kisil & Partners 112.5 +15.3%
9 Kinstellar Ukraine 101.6 -1.3%
10 Integrites 100.1 +56.1%

At the same time, nine of the ten largest law firms increased their revenue. The only exception was Kinstellar Ukraine, whose revenue declined by 1.3%, from UAH 102.9 million to UAH 101.6 million.

Aequo demonstrated the highest growth rate among the top 10 participants, at +132.5%. Avellum Partners increased its revenue by 113.9%, while Sayenko Kharenko Ukraine recorded growth of 105.9%.

Two other companies increased their revenue by more than half: CMS Cameron McKenna LLC by 56.6% and Integrites by 56.1%.

According to Experts Club, these trends indicate a recovery in demand for professional legal services and the strengthening of the positions of the largest market players. Revenue growth may be associated with increased activity in corporate transactions, business restructuring, international projects, sanctions and compliance support, litigation, and companies’ preparations for Ukraine’s future reconstruction.

At the same time, the market structure remains fairly concentrated. Asters alone accounted for approximately one-quarter of the combined revenue of the ten largest law firms.

Overall, as of early October 2026, Ukraine had 21,388 registered companies and 23,363 individual entrepreneurs operating under KVED 69.10, “Legal activities.” The total number of legal businesses and entrepreneurs in this segment reached 44,751.

Source: Opendatabot

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Ten Largest Companies That Changed Their Region of Registration Generated Over 44 Bln UAH in Revenue — Experts Club

The combined revenue of the ten largest companies that changed their region of legal address in 2026 totaled approximately 44.1 billion UAH over two quarters, according to Experts Club’s calculations based on data from OpenDataBot.

The largest among them was Parallel-M Ltd., which imports and sells fuel and operates the Parallel gas station chain. Its revenue for the first two quarters of 2026 totaled 9.18 billion UAH. The company changed its registered address from Zaporizhzhia Oblast to Poltava Oblast.

Second place went to the Pokrovske Mining Administration, with revenue of 6.31 billion hryvnias, which re-registered from the Donetsk region to the Zaporizhzhia region.

In third place is “Podorozhnik Kyiv” with revenue of 5.22 billion UAH. The company, affiliated with the “Podorozhnik” pharmacy chain, changed its region of registration from Lviv Oblast to Kharkiv Oblast.

The combined revenue of the three largest companies totaled 20.71 billion UAH, or about 47% of the total revenue of the top ten.

The top 10 also included “Galychyna-Tabak” with revenue of 4.26 billion UAH, “STV Center” with 4.12 billion UAH, “Interbusiness” with 3.92 billion UAH, “Arion Trade” with 3.83 billion UAH, “Mars Ukraine” with 2.84 billion UAH, “Sovtrading-L” with 2.28 billion UAH, and “SK Energy Group” with 2.13 billion UAH.

The latter company was the most active in terms of the number of changes to its legal address among large businesses: over the course of three quarters, it re-registered four times between Kyiv and the Kharkiv region.

Experts Club notes that the presence of companies with revenues in the billions in the statistics shows that changing one’s legal location remains relevant not only for small and medium-sized businesses but also for large enterprises in the fuel, mining, pharmaceutical, retail, and other sectors.

However, a change of region in the Unified State Register does not necessarily mean an actual relocation of the company’s main assets or production facilities.

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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“Kyivstar” Topped Ukraine’s Telecom Market by Revenue in First Half of Year

The top three companies in Ukraine by revenue from telecommunications services for the first half of 2026 were, by a wide margin, mobile network operators: Kyivstar PJSC – 24.87 billion UAH, VF Ukraine PJSC (Vodafone-Ukraine brand) – 13.75 billion UAH, and lifecell LLC (lifecell brand) of the DVL Group – 8.88 billion UAH.

According to data from the National Commission for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (NCREC) published on its website, compared to the same period in 2025, revenue growth for Kyivstar was 17.3%, for Vodafone-Ukraine 10.2%, and for lifecell 17.1%.
As previously reported, in 2025, the growth rates for these companies were 20.3%, 13.1%, and 19.1%, respectively.

The top five revenue leaders in the first half of 2026 also included the fixed-line operator PJSC “Ukrtelecom,” which saw its revenue decline by 5.1% compared to the same period in 2025, down to 2.19 billion UAH.
Kyivstar’s “sister” company, LLC “Ukraine Tower Company” (UTC), rounded out the top five in terms of revenue for the first half of this year, increasing its revenue by 21.5% to 1.73 billion UAH.

According to the report, leading the second five in terms of revenue from telecommunications services is the fixed-line operator PJSC “Datagroup” from the DVL Group, which increased its revenue by 35% compared to the same period last year—to 1.21 billion UAH.
Next is the fixed-line operator PrJSC “Farlep-Invest,” controlled by “VF Ukraine,” which increased its revenue by a factor of 1.5 to 0.57 billion UAH and rose from 9th place in 2025 to 7th place this year.

The Radio Broadcasting, Radio Communications, and Television Concern ranks eighth with 0.52 billion UAH, which is 14% more than in the first half of last year, when it ranked 7th.
Ukrainian Network Solutions LLC, the holding company for Vodafone Ukraine, increased its revenue 1.7-fold in the first half of 2026—to 0.49 billion UAH, while “Home-Net” Scientific and Industrial Company LLC ranks 10th, having managed to increase its revenue by 23.8% to 0.44 billion UAH.

According to the regulator’s data, the top three mobile operators also led in terms of capital investments in the telecommunications sector in the first half of 2026: “Kyivstar” reduced its investments by 38% compared to 2025—to 3.24 billion UAH, “Vodafone Ukraine” maintained its level at 3.16 billion UAH, while lifecell increased its investments by 43.9% to 2.62 billion UAH.

“Farlep-Invest” also increased its investments in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year—by 20.7%, to 0.61 billion UAH—moving up to 4th place from 5th previously, while YTK fell from 4th to 5th place due to a 23.9% decline in investments—to 0.57 billion UAH.
A 49.8% decrease in investment volumes was also recorded by “Ukrainian Network Solutions”—to 0.20 billion UAH.

“Ukrtelecom” reduced its investments in the first half of 2026 by only 1.5%—to 0.19 billion UAH—while “Datagroup” cut its investments by 22.4%, to 0.09 billion UAH.
In contrast, Home-Net increased this figure 3.9-fold in the first half of 2026—to 0.07 billion UAH—and rose from 17th place last year to 9th this year.

Rounding out the top five in terms of investment volume is Lanet Telecom LLC, which invested 0.04 billion UAH in the telecommunications sector in the first half of 2026, a decrease of approximately 2.5 million UAH compared to the first half of last year.
As previously reported, in the first quarter of 2026, the leaders in terms of revenue were PJSC “Kyivstar” – 12.08 billion UAH, PJSC “Vodafone Ukraine” (TM “Vodafone-Ukraine”) – 6.69 billion UAH, and LLC “lifecell” (TM lifecell) from the DVL Group – 4.18 billion UAH.

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Metinvest’s Loss in First Half of Year Rose to $202 Mln

Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group, ended January–June of this year with a net loss of $202 million, compared to a net loss of $58 million in the same period last year.

According to a press release issued by Metinvest B.V. on Monday regarding the first half of this year, revenue for the period increased by 3%, to $3.657 billion from $3.555 billion.

The company’s operating profit for the reporting period fell by 64% to $73 million.

In the first half of 2026, adjusted EBITDA decreased by 8.3% compared to the same period last year—to $311 million from $339 million. At the same time, EBITDA for the mining segment fell by 30%, to $119 million from $169 million, while EBITDA for the metallurgy segment rose by 17%, to $249 million from $213 million.

The financial results reflect the group’s performance prior to the port shutdowns and the subsequent shutdown of the Southern GOK, as well as before the shelling of Zaporizhstal and Kametstal, which caused those facilities to shut down as well.

It is noted, however, that Metinvest’s enterprises in Ukraine continued to operate at varying levels of capacity utilization due to constraints related to security, power supply, logistics, and economic factors. Despite all the challenges, the group demonstrated strong financial results, which enabled it to fully and timely repay $428 million in bonds in April. Since the start of the war, Metinvest, together with its joint ventures and associated companies, has allocated $328 million to support Ukraine.

Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted in his commentary that the first half of 2026 was generally characterized by stable operational and financial performance. A key achievement was the successful redemption in April of bonds maturing in 2026. This event demonstrates Metinvest’s financial discipline and resilience. Since 2022, the group has fully repaid three separate bond issues, with total payments exceeding $1 billion. Importantly, all these obligations were met without restructuring, despite the loss of control over certain assets and the unprecedented challenges facing Ukrainian businesses.

After the end of the reporting period, operating conditions in Ukraine became increasingly difficult: intensified missile attacks and drone strikes heightened security risks, disrupted commercial shipping through Black Sea ports, and further complicated export and import logistics. Against this backdrop, the “Pivdenny GZK” joint venture temporarily suspended production. In August and September 2026, missile strikes on the group’s enterprises—Zaporizhstal and Kametstal—resulted in the deaths and injuries of employees and caused significant damage to production and support infrastructure, leading to the temporary shutdown of the affected facilities.

“We plan to gradually resume operations at these facilities and bring the blast furnaces back online step by step. This demonstrates our commitment to preserving a competitive Ukrainian steel industry, which continues to support the country’s economy,” the CEO noted.

At the same time, external operating conditions are becoming more challenging. “We find ourselves in a fundamentally new regulatory landscape, driven by the EU’s introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and changes to trade quotas. Although the group remains committed to decarbonization and integration into the EU’s economic space, these measures are placing additional pressure on Ukrainian industry at a time when the country continues to defend itself against military aggression and preserve its industrial potential,” Ryzhenkov emphasized.

Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its facilities are located in Ukraine—in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions—as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The holding’s main shareholders are the SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of the Metinvest Group.

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Ukraine’s Top 10 Tobacco Companies Generated 182.7 Bln UAH in Revenue for First Half of Year

According to Experts.news, DLS became the largest company in Ukraine’s tobacco sector by revenue in the first half of 2026, generating 61.08 billion UAH, according to data from OpenDataBot.

The company is part of the DL Solution financial and industrial group.

Philip Morris Sales and Distribution took second place with revenue of 32.15 billion UAH, while JT International Company Ukraine came in third with 23.6 billion UAH. The company represents brands such as Winston, Camel, Sobranie, LD, Monte Carlo, and Winchester on the Ukrainian market.

In fourth place is British American Tobacco Sales and Marketing Ukraine, with revenue of 19.94 billion UAH. The company works with brands such as Kent, Dunhill, glo, Vuse, and Velo.

Rounding out the top five is the distributor Global Tobacco, which generated 11.69 billion UAH in revenue.

The top ten also includes DK “Mirana” — 10.65 billion UAH, Imperial Brands Ukraine—10 billion UAH, JT International Ukraine—4.96 billion UAH, Philip Morris Ukraine—4.41 billion UAH, and Halychyna-Tabak—4.26 billion UAH.

The combined revenue of the ten largest companies reached approximately 182.7 billion UAH, accounting for about 92% of the total revenue of the companies included in OpenDataBot’s comparative sample.

At the same time, the five largest companies alone accounted for about 148.5 billion UAH, or approximately three-quarters of the combined revenue of the analyzed companies.

In total, 41 tobacco companies that filed financial reports for both the first half of 2025 and for 2026 generated 198.18 billion UAH in revenue, which is 10% more than in the previous year.

Source: OpenDataBot.

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