Record-breaking year for criminal cases against businesses in Ukraine
Source: Opendatabot
In an unprecedented surge, 2023 saw a record 43,138 criminal cases opened against businesses in Ukraine, the highest number since 2012.
According to analytical firm Opendatabot, 5,015 private Ukrainian companies were involved in criminal proceedings in 2023, with at least six companies facing money laundering charges and four more involved in collaboration activities.
Overall, last year recorded a shocking 43,000 references to domestic businesses in a criminal context. At least 2,839 companies are dealing with criminal investigations this year.
One company faces charges of treason, three are accused of collaboration with the enemy, and ten more are implicated in money laundering schemes. Experts point out that 80% of criminal cases against businesses result in no convictions or even fail to reach the courts.
“Businesses listed in the court registry as involved in criminal cases face ongoing issues with financial monitoring and compliance. Even if a case is closed, records in the court registry remain permanently, making it impossible to remove or dismiss them. Currently, businesses have no means to protect their reputations in these situations,” said Opendatabot founder Oleksiy Ivankin.
It is worth noting that directive 65 by the National Bank of Ukraine requires the inspection of companies that have been “involved in criminal cases,” which has become a headache for such businesses as they “encounter difficulties in financial operations.”
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.