Companies linked to Russia, Belarus continue operating in Ukraine
More than 20,000 companies in Ukraine have links to Russia or Belarus, and only five percent of them have changed beneficiaries since the start of Russia’s full-scale war, a study by YouControl, a consultancy, has revealed.
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About half of the companies with Russian or Belarusian links are located in Kyiv, with another 6.5 percent in the Kyiv region. By type of activity, almost 27 percent of them are engaged in trade, and 14 percent in manufacturing and real estate.
YouControl notes that the removal of Russian or Belarusian individuals or entities from the ownership structure does not always mean a complete break with the aggressor states.
Some companies, indeed, have tried to disguise their ties using various methods:
- Changing the country of citizenship or registration of participants / beneficiaries from Russia and Belarus to other countries, often Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Ukraine
- Transfer of ownership to alleged relatives who have citizenship of Ukraine or other countries other than Russia and Belarus
During Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, 39 new companies have been set up in Ukraine with individuals tied to Russia or Belarus.
Most of those companies are charitable organisations, with almost half of them registered in Kyiv, and the majority were established in 2022.
