Main points
- There are 2,997 companies with foreign owners in Ukraine, with the most common owners being citizens of Cyprus, Germany, and the United States.
- Foreigners choose industries such as wholesale trade, agriculture, and IT.
Why Ukrainian businesses worth hundreds of millions are owned by foreigners / Pexels
Foreigners are showing increasing interest in starting a business in Ukraine – even despite the war, the number of companies with foreign owners continues to increase. There are currently 2,997 companies with foreign owners in Ukraine.
Why do foreigners open a business in Ukraine?
According to the results of 2025, foreigners actively registered businesses in Ukraine, and we are talking not only about large investments, but also about small and medium-sized businesses, writes Opendatabot.
Almost a quarter of the companies have owners from Cyprus – 694 companies. They are followed by citizens of Germany – they are represented in 300 companies, and the USA – 292. Next come the Netherlands (239 companies), the United Kingdom (224), Austria (187) and Poland (146). It is worth noting that one company can have multiple owners.
Which foreigners have businesses in Ukraine / infographics Opendatabot
By the way, Cyprus and the Netherlands have long been key “hubs” for structuring Ukrainian business. We are talking about companies that had revenue of over 100 million hryvnias according to their financial statements for 2025.
Most often, foreigners choose the following industries:
- wholesale trade – 25.8%;
- agriculture – 8.9%;
- IT – 5.9%;
- electricity and gas supply – 5.4%;
- retail trade – 4.3%.
New tax law for companies: how could it affect Ukrainian businesses?
As economist Oleg Getman explained to Channel 24 , the likelihood that the new tax bill will come into effect in 2027 is quite low. He predicts that it will either come into effect in 2028, or in the year when Ukraine joins the EU.
In addition, according to Hetman, entrepreneurs will be reluctant to switch to VAT if the bill is passed, in particular, he says that only 20% to 30% of individual entrepreneurs can do this. And all the rest will most likely use the scheme of splitting the individual entrepreneur, opening it to one of the family members.
Oleg Getman
Coordinator of expert groups of the Economic Expert Platform
Accordingly, it is not worth expecting that after the change in taxation, the prices of all goods will increase sharply. This will affect more those who will still pay VAT. At the same time, their share in the total turnover is relatively small, and therefore the overall impact on prices will be limited.
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