27% of surveyed sole proprietors plan to close in the near future

Opendatabot conducted a large-scale survey of Ukrainian entrepreneurs to understand the plans of small and medium-sized businesses for the near future.

A total of 31,694 respondents who operate as sole proprietors participated in the study. Of these, 27%, or 8,621 entrepreneurs, plan to close their businesses soon.

This includes 2,297 (7%) who planned to close this year and another 20% (6,324) who intend to cease operations next year. Over half (62%) of those planning to close their businesses cite tax increases as the primary reason. Another 19% are shutting down due to business-related challenges.

It is worth noting that, due to a massive cyberattack by pro-Russian hackers on state registries, closing a business is currently either extremely difficult or outright impossible.

Most Ukrainian Sole Proprietors Work in Retail and IT. Retail (24.6%) and IT (21%) are the leading industries among surveyed entrepreneurs.

Since the introduction of the military tax for small and medium businesses, closures have doubled compared to openings.

Key Statistics (Since Law Enactment):

• Businesses Closed: 24,497
• Businesses Opened: 10,947 (2.2 times fewer than closures).

Comparison with the previous year: last year, for every 4 new businesses, 1 closed during the same period.

Opendatabot reached out to the Chair of the Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, for a comment. However, no response was received by the time of publication.