In the first five months of 2024, the number of Ukrainians who filed for bankruptcy more than doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching 343 people. Such data was made public by the Supreme Court of Ukraine. In total, over the past five years, almost 2,000 personal bankruptcy cases have been opened, which indicates the growing popularity of this procedure.
About this informs The opendatabase.
It is noted that the law, which allowed citizens to declare themselves bankrupt through the court, entered into force in 2019. Only 22 such cases were registered then. However, the number of bankruptcies increased every year: in 2020 – by 8.3 times, in 2021 – by 2.7 times. Although growth rates have slowed in 2022 and 2023, the overall trend remains upward.
People aged 25 to 45 (58%) resort to the bankruptcy procedure most often. A third of bankrupts are over 45 years old, and only 3.7% are young people under 25 years old. The gender distribution is almost equal: 54% men and 46% women.
Despite the increase in the number of bankruptcies, attorney and arbitration manager Denys Lykhopek notes that court statistics do not reflect the real number of debtors who could be helped by this procedure. Among the reasons are the high cost, the complexity of the process and the need to involve a lawyer, for which the debtor may not have enough funds. In addition, creditors are not always interested in submitting their claims to court, hoping for independent repayment of the debt or, on the contrary, trying to disrupt the procedure.
