How many Ukrainian companies removed Russian owners from their registers: data from Opendatabot
Analysts report that since the start of the full-scale war, 621 companies have already removed Russian owners from their registers.
As of February 24, 2022, more than 18,000 Ukrainian companies had owners from the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 621 companies have already gotten rid of the “Russian trace” in their registration data. This is reported by the “Opendatabot” platform.
How Ukrainian business gets rid of Russian influence
According to analysts, 621 companies have been able to exclude Russian owners from their registers since the beginning of the war. “This is 220 more companies than in August of last year, when there were 401 such businesses,” Opendatabot notes.
Photo: Opendatabot
It is worth reminding that with the beginning of a full-scale war in Ukraine, there is a moratorium on changing registration data in companies with Russian owners, with the exception of a few cases clearly defined by law. Analysts emphasize that if the change of owners took place illegally, it may mean that Russian business continues to operate in Ukraine, circumventing legal restrictions.
With this in mind, “Opendatabot” turned to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine with a request to check information on 621 companies that changed their owners and beneficiaries with Russian citizenship. They called for an investigation to identify possible illegal actions on the part of these companies.
Vyacheslav Hardykov, director of the State Registration Department of the Ministry of Justice, said that the department is currently conducting a check at the request of Opendatabot. According to him, no violations of the law were found in most companies. However, violations have already been previously established in several cases, due to which three chamber inspections of registration actions have been scheduled for seven companies. If it turns out that the change of data on owners with Russian citizenship was illegal, notaries or registrars who carried out these actions will be subject to appropriate sanctions in accordance with current legislation.
Also, “Opendatabot” emphasizes that the platform does not remove the indication of the presence of Russian owners in the company’s cards even after this data has been changed. This is due to the fact that there are often formal changes of owners that do not comply with legal regulations.
