Business

1,549 sole proprietors on one number: how “mass” phones work in Ukraine

Thousands of so-called “mass” telephone numbers have been recorded in Ukraine, which are used simultaneously by several entrepreneurs or companies when registering in the Unified State Register. The absolute record is 1,549 active sole proprietors registered to the same contact number.

This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to data from ” OpenDataBot.”

What is a “mass” number

A phone number is considered mass if:

• it is used by at least 5 sole proprietors during registration;
• or at least 5 companies;
• or 5 individual entrepreneurs and 5 companies simultaneously.

Currently, there are:

• 3,368 mass numbers for individual entrepreneurs;
• 8,900 bulk numbers among companies;
• 3,380 numbers that are simultaneously mass numbers for both individual entrepreneurs and legal entities.

Record holders among phones

• 1 number unites 1,549 active sole proprietors
• 2nd number — 786 entrepreneurs
• 3rd — 773 individual entrepreneurs

This means that one contact can formally serve hundreds of independent businesses.

Where are the most mass numbers

Kyiv is the leader in terms of the number of such phones.

Regional statistics:

• Kyiv — 1,020 numbers (almost a third)
• Kharkiv region — 741 (22%)
• Kyiv region — 640 (19%)
• Dnipropetrovsk region — 595 (18%)

At the same time, the same number can be used in several regions simultaneously.

In which areas are bulk phones most commonly used?

Mass phones are most often used by entrepreneurs in the retail sector — 2,013 numbers. Significantly fewer, but still hundreds, are used in wholesale trade (963), IT (922), HoReCa (787), and real estate (617). At the same time, one number can appear in several types of activities at once.

The most common industries are:

One number may appear in several types of activities.

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Why does the phenomenon of mass numbers occur?

Experts cite several possible reasons:

• registration of businesses through accounting or law firms;
• use of intermediaries;
• mass opening of sole proprietorships to work with marketplaces;
• tax optimization;
• technical or organizational features of registration.

The presence of a mass number is not a violation in itself, but it may be a signal for additional verification.

What this means for businesses and customers

Mass numbers:

• make it difficult to identify the entrepreneur;
• may indicate centralized management of several businesses;
• are sometimes used in schemes to fragment activities.

At the same time, you can now check a phone number for free via OpenDataBot.

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