A total of 709 new companies with foreign owners were registered in Ukraine during the first seven months of 2026, up 6% from the same period last year, according to data from the Unified State Register analysed by Opendatabot.
The number has also increased substantially compared with 2024. Between January and July that year, 574 companies with foreign beneficiaries were registered, meaning the figure has grown by 24% in two years.
The most notable increase came from Chinese investors. Chinese citizens registered 114 companies in Ukraine during January–July 2026, almost three times the 41 companies opened during the same period last year. China accounted for 16% of all new foreign-owned businesses and, for the first time, overtook Turkey.
Turkish citizens registered 98 companies, or 14% of the total, down 6% year-on-year. They were followed by US citizens with 62 companies, Germans with 44 and Azerbaijanis with 35.
Overall, citizens of 65 countries were listed as owners of newly registered companies. Thirteen businesses had beneficiaries from more than one country.
Kyiv remains by far the main destination for foreign-owned businesses, accounting for 360 new companies — just over half of the total. Odessa region ranked second with 110 companies, or 16%, followed by Lviv region with 78, or 11%. Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi regions completed the top five with 22 and 20 companies respectively.
Wholesale trade was the most popular sector, accounting for 167 companies, or almost one in four new foreign-owned businesses. Real estate and building construction followed with 57 and 54 companies respectively. Another 45 companies were registered in IT.
Some of the new businesses also entered Ukraine with substantial declared capital. The largest was Kyiv-based Agrotech Investytsiia, whose Italian beneficiary declared charter capital of UAH 400.04 million. The company operates in financial services.
It was followed by natural gas company Esco-gazservice, with UAH 250 million in charter capital and a beneficiary from Cyprus, and Progency Ukraine, with UAH 76.14 million and a German beneficiary.
According to Opendatabot, only one of the 709 companies had a beneficiary from a jurisdiction included on Ukraine’s offshore zones list at the time of registration.
