91 Ukrainian companies excluded Russian owners: how businesses "clean up" their reputation

Since the beginning of 2025, 91 companies in Ukraine have excluded Russian citizens from their ownership structure, even though the law explicitly prohibits such changes. Most of these businesses continue to operate, and some even participate in state tenders. This is reported by Opendatabot, citing data from the State Register, writes UNN.

DetailsAccording to the Unified State Register, as of January 2025, 88 companies remain active, and 3 are in the process of liquidation. This practice is not new: since the full-scale invasion, over 700 companies have carried out similar re-registrations, often circumventing the law. The Ministry of Justice, following journalists’ inquiries, investigated individual cases, but only 8 changes were deemed illegal.

Where are companies being “cleansed”?The largest number of businesses that have shed their Russian trace are registered in Kyiv – 30 companies. This is followed by: Odesa region – 9 companies, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Vinnytsia regions – 7 each, other regions have lower figures.

By type of activity, wholesale trade leads (15 companies), followed by real estate operations (13), retail trade (8), fisheries (6), IT and consulting (5).

The financial results of such companies also vary: 38 businesses have a turnover of up to UAH 10 million, 10 companies earned from UAH 10 to 100 million, 4 exceeded the UAH 100 million mark, and 39 did not submit reports at all.

Participation in state tendersDespite the questionable “cleansing” of Russian owners, some companies continue to win government procurement contracts. For example:

• “TATNEFT-AZS-UKRAINE” – 43 tenders for over UAH 6.8 million
• “MIREKTS” – 4 tenders for UAH 122 thousand
• “VK SERVICE PLUS” – 1 tender for UAH 57 thousand

Ukrainian law prohibits companies with Russian owners from changing their structure, but exceptions exist. These apply to Russian citizens who legally reside in Ukraine, or those who own less than 10% of the authorized capital.

Thus, despite the formal prohibition, businesses find ways to “whiten” their reputation and continue operations. This creates risks for both economic transparency and national security.

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