Over 141,000 sole traders have been registered in Ukraine: does this signal a boom in entrepreneurship?
This is evidenced by data from the Unified State Register, analysed by OpenDataBot. The Ministry of Finance has also previously confirmed that it is working on a reform of the simplified taxation system, certain provisions of which may not come into effect until 2027 at the earliest.
In the first half of the year, 141,472 new sole traders were registered in Ukraine, whilst 102,258 sole traders ceased trading. Consequently, the net increase stood at 39,214 sole traders.
At the same time, the number of new registrations itself is almost unchanged from the figures for the same period last year. The main reason for this positive trend was a sharp reduction in the number of closures — by approximately 36 per cent year-on-year.
Which sectors are growing the fastest
The largest net increase in sole traders was recorded in five sectors:
• education — +3,902 sole traders;
• retail trade — +3,596;
• postal and courier services — +2,558;
• property transactions — +2,504;
• wholesale trade — +2,391.
The highest number of new entrepreneurs was registered in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa regions. At the same time, a decline in the number of sole traders was recorded only in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions.
Why the statistics do not necessarily indicate an entrepreneurial boom
Experts point out that an increase in the number of sole traders does not necessarily indicate rapid growth in small business.
The Ministry of Finance has already presented a concept for the future reform of the simplified taxation system, which envisages changes to the operating rules for some entrepreneurs, particularly regarding registration as VAT payers. The Ministry of Finance emphasises that such changes are planned to be introduced no earlier than 2027, following consultations with the business community and international partners.
Against the backdrop of these expected changes, some entrepreneurs may adjust the structure of their operations in advance. This assessment was made by Nina Yuzhanina, chair of the parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy in the previous parliamentary term. According to her, businesses may divide their activities across several sole traders in order to avoid exceeding potential income thresholds for compulsory VAT registration in the future.
At the same time, there is currently no official data to confirm that it was the anticipation of tax reform that was the main reason for the increase in the number of sole traders.
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