Ukraine’s defense, IT, and infrastructure sectors are attracting significant international investment and driving market activity, even as businesses navigate emerging legislation, ongoing talent shortages, and operational challenges that continue to shape the country’s evolving business landscape, according to CMS Ukraine Partner Olga Belyakova.
“The past few months have been exceptionally busy,” Belyakova points out. “Naturally, workflows differ between local and international firms, with the latter handling a higher volume of international clients in the country. Looking at the activities of the international clients, the strongest inflow of work has come from infrastructure projects – rail, ports, and broader transportation.”
“At the same time, IT remains our bread and butter in Ukraine and continues to perform well, especially given the circumstances,” Belyakova adds. “Many of the international companies are interested in entering the Ukrainian market and acquiring assets, particularly in defense technology and medical technology. The number of defense projects is steadily increasing, and there is a clear technological differentiation among the various companies and startups forming in Ukraine. Investors are highly engaged, and Ukraine has become an attractive space for the development of defense technology on a global scale.”
Apart from defense, Belyakova stresses that “a number of retail clients are entering Ukraine, and expectations remain that international businesses will continue to arrive.”
From a regulatory perspective, “several important developments are shaping the business environment,” Belyakova notes. “The parliament is considering a new data privacy law, designed closely based on the EU’s GDPR, signaling Ukraine’s ongoing alignment with European standards as part of its EU accession discussions. Although no formal vote has taken place yet, this issue is widely discussed in the market. We are also involved in matters relating to cloud legislation and cloud infrastructure. Discussions on a new labor code, long overdue, have also intensified, with adoption potentially occurring within the next three to five months.”
Belyakova notes that at the same time, structural challenges remain. “The market is currently facing a shortage of experts, which affects all sectors, including law firms,” she mentions. “Finding the right people for the right roles remains a key challenge due to the ongoing demographic situation. Additionally, mobilization continues to be a significant issue for businesses operating in Ukraine. Overall, while opportunities are growing – especially in defense, IT, and infrastructure – the market also faces structural challenges that require a careful approach.”
