Over 1,600 foreigners registered businesses in Ukraine in 2025, net growth at 490

In the first nine months of 2025, more than 1,600 sole proprietorships (SPs) were opened in Ukraine by foreign nationals, according to the Unified State Register. This represents a nearly 10% decline compared to the same period last year. Despite the drop, the net growth — the difference between openings and closures — reached 490 foreign-owned businesses, reports Opendatabot.

The largest group of foreign entrepreneurs comes from Azerbaijan (229 SPs, 14%), followed closely by citizens of Russia (222, 14%), Uzbekistan (160, 10%), Moldova (125, 8%), and Armenia (95, 6%). In contrast, Russian citizens also lead in business closures, with 241 SPs shut down (21%), followed by Azerbaijan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.

Foreign entrepreneurs represent only 0.7% of all new entrepreneurs in Ukraine this year, and their share of business closures is equally small — 0.5% of total shutdowns.

Unlike Ukrainian business owners, foreign entrepreneurs are predominantly male (69%), with women accounting for 31%. They also tend to be more resilient: the median lifespan of a foreign-owned business is 3.1 years, compared to 2.5 years for Ukrainian businesses. The longest-running foreign business was operated by a Russian woman for 30 years before closing this year.

“Opening a sole proprietorship as a foreigner is completely legal,” said Denys Popov, head of the Legal Department at Opendatabot. “Those with temporary or permanent residence permits can register a tax identification number and operate on the same terms as Ukrainians. Russian citizens are no exception — as long as they legally reside in Ukraine, the procedure is the same as for any other foreigner.”

Most foreign-owned businesses are concentrated in the trade sector, followed by food services (14%), wholesale trade (9%), computer programming (6%), and information services (4%). Business closures largely occur in the same sectors, with retail trade (37%), computer programming (10%), and food services (9%) leading.

Geographically, Kyiv remains the top choice for foreign entrepreneurs, with 544 new SPs, followed by Odessa region (300, 18%), Kyiv region (138, 8%), Kharkiv region (104, 6%), and Lviv region (83, 5%). The fewest registrations occurred in Volyn, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kherson regions, with 2 to 17 businesses each. Business closures also reflect similar patterns, with Kyiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions accounting for the majority.