Business

Ukrainian entrepreneurial boom in Poland: 30,325 sole proprietorships in one year

For the whole of 2023, 30,325 new Ukrainian companies were registered in Poland, exceeding the figure for 2022 by 67%, reports with reference to Rzeczpospolita.

According to the publication, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in January and February 2022, Ukrainians registered about 200 sole proprietorships in Poland every month.

However, in March and the following months of 2022, the number of registrations increased significantly, peaking in April-June with around 1,700 sole proprietorships per month, and stabilising at around 2,000 new companies in the following months.

Thebeginning of 2023 showed an even bigger jump in registrations, especially noticeable in March, August, September and October, when the number of new sole proprietorships from Ukraine reached 2700-2800 per month.

In thewhole of 2023, 30,325 new Ukrainian companies were registered in Poland, which is 67% more than 18,139 in 2022.

In total, the number of all new sole proprietorships in Poland reached 299,300, of which more than 10% were Ukrainian companies. Over the two years of 2022-2023, Ukrainians registered 48,464 sole proprietorships.

“The fact that their number is growing significantly is a good sign. Now we need to think about what to do to make them stay in Poland longer so that the number of registrations of new Ukrainian companies does not start to decline,”

– said Lukasz Bernatowicz, President of the Business Centre Club Employers’ Association.

Over 20% of companies founded by Ukrainians in Poland operate in the construction industry. IT and services account for a few per cent each, followed by trading companies.

Approximately one in four Ukrainian companies was registered in the Mazovian Voivodeship, followed by the Lower Silesian, Lesser Poland and Pomeranian Voivodeships.

“We are facing a huge deficit in the labour market, and Ukrainian workers and entrepreneurs are filling the gaps where there is a shortage of labour: in construction, transport, IT, and services. We need to try to keep them here, encourage them to work in our country so that they don’t want to go to Germany, for example, because we simply need them,”

– says Lukasz Bernatowicz.

Since 2023, Ukrainians have been able to register businesses in Poland under the same conditions as Polish citizens.

Most Ukrainians work in Poland in positions that do not match their qualifications and skills due to the language barrier or the non-recognition of diplomas.

Nevertheless, the growth of the number of Ukrainian companies in Poland does not cause significant concern among Polish entrepreneurs. Only 27% of the surveyed entrepreneurs expressed fears of competition from Ukrainian companies, while 61% do not consider it a threat.