Ukraine: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Tovarystvo z Obmezhenoyu Vidpovidalnistyu ou TVO (Private Limited Company): Number of partners: Minimum 1, no maximum.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Limited to the value of their contribution.
Vidkryte akstionerne tovarystvo (Joint-stock company): Number of partners: Minimum 1, no maximum.
Capital (max/min): Minimum: 1250 times the minimum wage at the date of registration
Shareholders and liability: Limited to the value of their contribution.
Limited partnership: Number of partners: Minimum 2, no maximum.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirement.
Shareholders and liability: Liability of the active partners is unlimited, that of sleeping partners is limited to the value of their contribution.
General partnership: Number of partners: Minimum 2.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital requirement.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is unlimited.

Setting Up a Company	Ukraine	Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Procedures (number)	6.00	5.26
Time (days)	6.50	11.78

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: The formation of a company with foreign shareholding has to be registered with the local administration where the headquarter of the company being formed is situated.
It is also necessary to register with the Ministry of Economy.
For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Ukraine.

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Bankruptcy Laws: The law on the restitution of the debtor's solvency or the declaration of bankruptcy came into force in January 2000.

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	20,417,459	20,207,728	19,461,889

For Further Information About the Labour Market: COE, Labor migration
Statistics on the Ukrainian labor market

Opening Hours
Legal Weekly Duration: 44 hours for services and trade and 48 hours for industry.
Maximum Duration: It is possible to go over the 40 hours a week for some professions: 44 hours for services and shops and 48 hours for industry. 120 hours per year of overtime is the limit, except in certain categories (managers and other).

Working Rest Day: Saturday and Sunday are the weekly days of rest.
Paid Annual Vacation: The Ukranians have a right to 24 days of paid vacation per year, plus 13 days public holidays, which are not working days.
Retirement Age: 55 for women and 60 for men. For women, it is gradually being increased to 60 since 2011. It will reach 60 in 2021.
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: The minimum working age is 16.

Minimum Wage: UAH 6,500 per month since 1st January 2022 (official governmental sources)
Average Wage: Gross average monthly wage: UAH 14,577 (source: State Statistics Service, January 2022).
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: In theory, overtime work can only be imposed in a "case of emergency". Overtime, (not more than 120 hours per year) is paid double.
Pay For Rest Days Worked: If the employee works during a day of rest, he is paid double.
Pay For Night Hours: The night shift is remunerated according to the current collective convention and cannot be below the 120% of the daily rate.
For more information, refer to the report on the Regulation of Labor and Employment in the Ukraine published by the Volkov Koziakov & Partners.
Pay For Overtime at Night: Night overtime is paid double.

The Areas Covered: Accidents, illnesses, retirement, death, disability, maternity, medical care, family and child benefits and unemployment benefits.
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: 22% of the gross remuneration (capped at 15 times the minimum salary).
Contributions Paid By the Employee: 0%

Method of Recruitment: Some agencies impose their own recruitment methods and others hire intermediaries.
Recruitment Agencies: There are different types of recruitment agencies in the Ukraine, either specialized in a precise area or targeted at temporary employment. Most of them have their own websites.
Recruitment Websites: Work in Ukraine
Work in Kiev

Type of Contract: Employment contracts are regulated by law, collective agreements and individual negotiations. Employees have a probation period that can last between 1 and 3 months. There are three employment contracts: Permanent, temporary and provisional.

Retirement: Retirement age is set at 60 years for men and 55 years for women. For women, the retirement age has been gradually increasing to 60 since 2011; it will reach 60 in 2021. Retirement can be premature in certain sectors.
Dismissals: An employer can dismiss an employee for continued bad performance, serious fault, unjustifiable absence of more than 3 hours or prolonged illness of more than four months and company economic problems. An employee can resign with two-weeks notice.
Labour Laws: Labor Law
Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labor regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Legal Framework: The law that deals with contentious matter between employers and employees in the Ukraine is the International Commercial Arbitration Act.
Procedure: In the case of a dispute. the parties can go to the Ukrainian Tribunal of Commerce or an international court, by common agreement. Since 1994, parties can lodge an appeal with an international commercial arbitration court, which is a lot more advantageous.

Competent Legal Body: The body in charge of contetious matters between employers and employees in the Ukraine is the International Commercial Arbitration Court.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: The Federation of Ukrainian Trade Unions, which unites 44 unions and 26 regional associations, brings together more than 10 million members.
Unionisation Rate: The Ukraine has nearly 15 million unions for an active population of 22 million people.
Labour Unions: Ukrainian Trade Union Federation
Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Social Policy

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