Defying the Odds: Ukrainian Small and Medium Businesses Grow Amidst The War

In June alone, a record-breaking 31,477 new individual entrepreneurs were registered — the highest number in the last three years. On average, around 25,000 new businesses are registered monthly.

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Trends in new individual entrepreneur registrations

Month	April 2022	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	January 2023	February	March	April	May	June	July	August
The number of new fop	12,853	15,705	18,317	19,569	20,575	20,516	17,619	16,100	12,247	17,031	16,778	22,099	21,481	25,623	31,477	28,682	30,847

However, not all businesses have withstood the economic pressures. Between April 2022 and September 2023, 290,910 individual entrepreneurs ceased their operations. Currently, about 17,000 businesses are shutting down each month.

Unequal Impact Across Regions

The war has had a predictable impact on the number of businesses in various regions. From April 2022 to September 2023, the most significant discrepancy between the opening and closing of new businesses has been observed in the front-line and conflict-affected regions:

• Donetsk region lost 8,200 entrepreneurs
• Kharkiv region lost 7,100
• Kherson region lost 4,500
• Luhansk region lost 3,700
• Zaporizhia region lost more than 2,000

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Glimmers of Hope

In contrast, some regions have seen more businesses opening than closing. The most substantial growth was observed in Kyiv, with a net gain of 12,900 new entrepreneurs, followed by Lviv region, where there was an increase of 12,300 businesses. Dnipropetrovsk region rounds out the top three with a net increase of 8,600 individual entrepreneurs.

This uptick in entrepreneurial activities, even amid a devastating conflict, highlights the resilience and adaptability of Ukraine’s business sector. While challenges undoubtedly remain, especially in conflict-affected regions, the overall growth in the number of SMEs brings a glimmer of hope to an otherwise bleak economic landscape.