How to invest in Ukraine: a practical guide for foreign companies and investors

Ukraine grants foreign investors national treatment: the same regime for investment and business activity as Ukrainian investors enjoy, with exceptions set by Ukrainian law and international treaties (Law “On the Regime of Foreign Investment”, Art. 7). Within that framework, investments usually take one of these routes.

• Public-private partnership or concession. The public side prepares the project and runs the tender: under Law No. 4510-IX only the public partner may initiate a PPP (Art. 10(1)). An investor joins by bidding, and the contract is signed by a project company created for that project.
• A private project — a new plant, a warehouse, a hotel, an expansion of an existing site. Projects above the equivalent of EUR 12 million in certain sectors can apply for a state support package (see the next section).
• Capital for an existing business: equity or loans for a Ukrainian company that needs money to repair, relocate or expand production.
• Buying a stake or setting up a joint venture with a Ukrainian partner. The right structure depends on the sector, the assets and the financing, so it is a question for legal and tax advisers rather than for a general guide.

The Law “On State Support of Investment Projects with Significant Investments in Ukraine” No. 1116-IX offers support to projects that meet all of its conditions (Art. 5(1)):

• the investment exceeds the equivalent of EUR 12 million, excluding VAT;
• the project is in one of the listed fields, among them processing industry, extraction of minerals for further processing (except coal, crude oil and natural gas), biogas and biomethane, waste management, transport, warehousing, logistics, education, science, healthcare, culture, sport, tourism and electronic communications;
• it creates at least 10, 30 or 50 new jobs paying at least 50%, 30% or 15% above the regional average wage for that activity, respectively;
• it is implemented within five years.

Support may include exemption from certain taxes and from import duty on new equipment, a priority right to use state or municipal land, construction of roads and utility infrastructure at public expense, and compensation of grid connection costs (Art. 3(1)). Total support may not exceed 30% of the planned investment (Art. 4(2)).

The applicant may be a legal entity registered in Ukraine or abroad (Art. 1(1)(2)). The special investment agreement, however, is signed by a Ukrainian company created solely for the project (Art. 1(1)(5)), for a term of up to 15 years (Art. 10(2)). A state institution authorised by the Cabinet of Ministers accompanies applicants through preparation and implementation (Art. 6). The law does not apply to projects that meet all the features of a PPP (Art. 2(4)).

The Constitution protects property: private property is inviolable, and forced alienation is allowed only as an exception, for reasons of public necessity, on the grounds and in the procedure set by law, and with prior and full compensation. Under martial law or a state of emergency, compensation may follow afterwards. Confiscation is possible only by court decision (Constitution of Ukraine, Art. 41).

The Law “On the Regime of Foreign Investment” adds specific guarantees:

• Foreign investments are not subject to nationalisation. Requisition is allowed only for rescue measures in natural disasters, accidents and epidemics, and can be challenged in court (Art. 9).
• A foreign investor is entitled to compensation for damage, including lost profit, caused by unlawful action or inaction of state bodies (Art. 10).
• If later legislation changes the guarantees, the investor may ask for the previous ones to apply for 10 years (Art. 8).
• After taxes, profits and other lawfully earned income may be transferred abroad without obstruction, in the procedure set by the National Bank of Ukraine (Art. 12).

Treaty protection depends on where the investor is incorporated. UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Hub lists 78 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) of Ukraine, 65 of them in force. Among them are the treaties with the United States (signed 1994), the United Kingdom (1993), Germany (1993), France (1994), Poland (1993), Austria (1996), Spain (1998), the United Arab Emirates (2003), Saudi Arabia (2008) and Qatar (2018).

A BIT typically covers expropriation and compensation, free transfer of payments and access to international arbitration, but the wording differs from treaty to treaty. Read the text of the treaty between Ukraine and your country of incorporation, not a summary.

For energy investments, there is also the Energy Charter Treaty. Ukraine remains a party. Many European states have withdrawn, among them Germany (effective 20 December 2023), Poland (29 December 2023), Spain (17 April 2025) and the United Kingdom (27 April 2025), as have the EU and Euratom (28 June 2025). Whether the treaty still protects a particular investment is a question for your lawyer.

Disputes between foreign investors and the state over state regulation of foreign investment go to Ukrainian courts unless an international treaty of Ukraine provides otherwise. All other disputes go to Ukrainian courts or, if the parties agree, to arbitration, including abroad (Law “On the Regime of Foreign Investment”, Art. 26).

• Ukraine has been a Contracting State of the ICSID Convention since 7 July 2000. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany are also Contracting States; Poland is not on the ICSID list of member states.
• Ukraine is a party to the 1958 New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
• For PPP projects, the dispute mechanism is set in the tender documents and the contract. It may be national or international commercial or investment arbitration, with a seat abroad if the private partner or its founder is an enterprise with foreign investment (Law No. 4510-IX, Art. 42(2)).

War-risk cover for Ukraine comes mostly from public institutions or with their backing. The main options, as their official sites describe them:

• MIGA (World Bank Group). Provides political and war-risk insurance for private investments in Ukraine, including real-sector guarantees. To increase capacity it uses the SURE trust fund (Support to Ukraine’s Reconstruction and Economy), financed by donor countries. Ukraine is a MIGA member, as are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.
• DFC (United States). Its political risk insurance covers losses from currency inconvertibility, government interference and political violence, including terrorism. In November 2024 DFC announced cover for a reinsurance facility meant to expand war-risk insurance of static assets in Ukraine.
• EBRD and the EU. In October 2026 the EBRD announced, with the EU, the expansion of a war-risk insurance facility for Ukrainian businesses, which now also covers goods in temporary storage and gas-related assets.
• National export credit agencies and investment guarantee schemes. Several countries insure their own investors’ projects in Ukraine. Germany’s federal investment guarantees, for example, cover expropriation, war, payment bans, conversion and transfer risks, and breach of state undertakings.

Each institution decides case by case, and conditions, premiums and eligibility (often tied to the investor’s nationality) change. Talk to the insurer early, while the deal structure can still be adapted to its requirements.

• UkraineInvest, the investment promotion office. Its services are free of charge: information, referrals and ideas on how and where to start a business in Ukraine. It states that it does not provide tax or legal advice.
• EBRD. Describes itself as the largest institutional investor in Ukraine; the private sector accounts for 49% of its Ukrainian portfolio.
• EIB Group. Has financed more than EUR 4.5 billion for Ukraine since 2022, in energy, water, transport, healthcare, education and support for businesses; in 2025 alone almost EUR 1.5 billion of new financing under EU guarantees.
• The EU’s Ukraine Facility. Up to EUR 50 billion for 2024–2027. Its second pillar, the Ukraine Investment Framework, has EUR 9.6 billion in guarantees and grants and is expected to mobilise up to EUR 40 billion of public and private investment.

For an investor, these programmes usually matter indirectly: through co-financing, guarantees to the banks that lend to a project, or blended finance in which part of the risk is taken by a public institution.

1. Pick projects that match your sector, ticket size and risk appetite. On EUROBRIDGE, the project catalogue shows each card’s verification level and Score; PPP and concession tenders are collected separately.
2. Check the legal framework: the Ukrainian law that applies to the project and the investment treaty between Ukraine and your country.
3. Screen the counterparties against the sanctions lists that apply to you and against Ukrainian sanctions (Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions” No. 1644-VII).
4. Sign an NDA and run due diligence in a data room: title to assets and land, permits, debts, court cases, war damage and its documentation.
5. Ask an insurer and a lender about war-risk cover and financing before you commit to a price.
6. Agree the structure with a local partner and advisers: share deal or asset deal, joint venture, project company, governing law and arbitration clause.