In September 2026, the State Customs Service of Ukraine transferred 75.2 billion hryvnia in customs duties to the state budget, which is 18.1 billion hryvnia more than in the same month last year.
According to Open4Business, citing data from the State Customs Service, revenues increased by 31.7% compared to September 2025, when 57.1 billion hryvnias were transferred to the budget.
The agency noted that actual revenue in September exceeded the indicative target set by the Ministry of Finance by 4.6 billion hryvnia.
One of the main factors driving the growth in revenue was the increase in the volume of taxable imports. In September 2026, this volume amounted to $7.3 billion, which is 23.7% more than a year earlier.
In particular, revenue from customs clearance of natural gas rose significantly—by 2.8 billion hryvnias—as did revenue from passenger cars (2.2 billion hryvnias), petroleum products (1.8 billion hryvnias), and coal (1.3 billion hryvnias).
Additional revenue was also generated by imports of telephones—by 0.9 billion UAH, power generators—by 0.7 billion UAH, and trucks—by 0.6 billion UAH.
At the same time, customs duty exemptions granted during customs clearance of goods in September totaled 25.3 billion UAH, which is 5.9 billion UAH, or 30.4%, more than in September of last year.
The largest amounts of exemptions were for defense-related goods—13.1 billion UAH, goods imported under free trade agreements—5.7 billion UAH, and energy equipment—2.4 billion UAH.
Thus, despite the increase in the volume of exemptions granted, the growth in imports and payments for certain major commodity groups allowed the State Customs Service to significantly increase revenues to the state budget.
The State Customs Service administers customs payments when goods cross Ukraine’s customs border. Customs revenues—primarily import VAT, excise taxes, and duties—are one of the largest sources of revenue for the state budget.
The joint U.S.-Ukrainian Recovery Investment Fund has signed its first deal in the critical minerals sector and approved four other projects, Conor Coleman, head of investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), told Reuters.
According to him, the total value of the fund’s current project portfolio is estimated at approximately $70 million.
The first deal in the mining sector involves an investment of about $30 million in a joint investment platform with BGV Group, co-owned by Hennadiy Butkevych, the owner of the “ATB” retail chain. Initially, the partnership will focus on the exploration and development of deposits of rare earth elements, uranium, beryllium, and zirconium. As Coleman emphasized, all of these items are included in the official U.S. list of critical raw materials.
Two other initiatives are aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s energy and heat generation capacity amid hostile attacks on the eve of winter. Specifically, one of the initiatives will supplement a nearly $100 million credit line that the DFC approved for the DTEK energy holding company to implement a battery storage system capable of providing backup power to up to 600,000 households for up to two hours.
In addition, the fund will invest in a combined heat and power platform for the construction of a network of local “energy hubs.”
As previously reported, the U.S.-Ukrainian Recovery Investment Fund was established under an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the minerals sector at the initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump. The fund’s activities are focused on five strategic areas: mineral resources, the defense-industrial complex, energy, logistics, and infrastructure. The fund is currently working to raise additional capital.
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.
Retail remains the most popular sector for starting a small business in Ukraine—in the first nine months of 2026, 60,300 new sole proprietorships were registered in this sector, according to Opendatabot data based on the Unified State Register and an analysis by the Experts Club think tank.
Retail accounts for more than a quarter of all new sole proprietorships registered in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. In total, 222,300 sole proprietorships were established from January through September.
Computer programming was the second most popular sector, with 16,700 new sole proprietorships. Wholesale trade showed virtually the same result—16,600
Approximately 10,700 new entrepreneurs were registered in the education sector. The same number of sole proprietorships began operations in the food and beverage sector, which includes, in particular, various formats of food service.
However, the most popular business sectors also lead in the number of closures.
In retail trade, 49,400 sole proprietorships ceased operations over the nine-month period. Thus, despite the large number of closures, the net increase in the number of entrepreneurs in the sector amounted to approximately 10,900.
The situation was different in computer programming. With 16,700 new registrations, 17,100 sole proprietorships ceased operations. Thus, based on the absolute figures published by Opendatabot, the number of closures in the IT segment exceeded the number of new openings by approximately 400.
In wholesale trade, the situation remains positive: with 16,600 new sole proprietorships, 11,700 closed, resulting in a net increase of approximately 4,900 entrepreneurs.
In the food service sector, approximately 10,700 new sole proprietorships were registered, with 7,900 closures—a positive difference of about 2,800.
In total, over the first nine months of 2026, 222,288 sole proprietorships opened in Ukraine, while 155,645 closed. The number of new entrepreneurs exceeded the number of those who ceased operations by 66,643.
Source: Opendatabot — “This year, 66,000 more sole proprietorships were opened than closed”.
entrepreneur, EXPERTS CLUB, IT, Sole proprietorship, TRADE, UKRAINE
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.
People’s Artist of Ukraine Olga Sumska has been awarded the title of “Artist of the Year” by the 30th anniversary nationwide “Person of the Year 2025” program, according to a press release from the program.
Sumska is a Ukrainian theater and film actress, television host, winner of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, and recipient of the Order of Princess Olga, Third Class. Her professional career in theater and film spans more than 40 years.
The actress was born on August 22, 1966, into the Sumskaya family of actors. In 1987, she graduated from the acting department of the Ivan Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts, and from 1988 to 2005, she worked at the Lesya Ukrainka Theater in Kyiv.
Sumska began her acting career at age 16 with the role of the young lady, the Centurion’s daughter, in the film *Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka*. She went on to play leading roles in the films *The Voice of the Grass*, *The Trap*, *Tiger Hunters*, *Carpathian Gold*, *The Notes of the Snub-Nosed Mephistopheles*, and other projects.
In total, the actress’s filmography includes over 100 roles in Ukrainian cinema. One of Sumskaya’s most famous roles was the lead in the historical TV series “Roxolana,” which brought her widespread popularity.
From 2022 to 2025, Sumskaya continued her active theater career and toured cities across Ukraine. During this period, the performances in which she appeared often had a charitable component and were aimed, in particular, at supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In recent years, the actress has appeared in the plays “Bravo, Julia,” “Our Kaidashs,” “Chasing Two Hares,” “Basic Instinct,” “Sublimation of Love,” and “The Return of the Prodigal Father.” Her film and television work in recent years includes *The Landlord*, *The Landlord 2: On Our Own Land*, *The Saga*, *Crazy Neighbors*, *Homeowners’ Association Meeting*, and *When You Get Divorced*.
In addition to her work in theater and film, Sumskaya participates in charitable initiatives and fundraising efforts for the Ukrainian military, as well as in cultural projects aimed at supporting and promoting Ukrainian theater and cinema.
In 2025, the actress was chosen as the muse of the “Mykolaichuk OPEN” International Film Festival.
“Theater and film are spaces for a living dialogue with the audience, where empathy, hope, and faith in humanity are born,” reads Sumskaya’s creative credo in the program’s announcement.
The nationwide “Person of the Year” program was held for the 30th time in 2025. The program honors representatives from various spheres of Ukraine’s social, economic, and cultural life.
Open4Business is an information partner of the nationwide “Person of the Year” program.
