Top wage debtors: which companies topped the anti-rating in 2025
19 January 11:42
At the beginning of 2026, Ukraine recorded more than 36,600 active proceedings concerning wage arrears. Over the year, the number of such cases increased by 6%, and 2025 became a record year in five years in terms of the number of new enforcement proceedings. This is evidenced by data from the Unified Register of Debtors, analyzed by OpenDataBot, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
What is happening with wage arrears
In 2025 alone, 9,174 proceedings were opened for non-payment of wages. This is 30% more than in 2024. At the same time, 56% of the debts opened last year have not yet been repaid, and some cases have been dragging on for years.
A particularly telling fact is that almost 2,000 debts have been “pending” since 2017. The oldest active case concerns the state-owned enterprise Poliskgeodezkartografiya, which is currently in the process of being shut down.
Which industries most often fail to pay salaries
The largest amount of wage debts in 2025 was incurred by industrial and energy enterprises:
- Chemical production — 2,612 cases (28.5%)
- Electricity and gas supply — 2,451 cases (26.7%)
- Machine building — 521 cases
- Electrical equipment manufacturing — 399
- Healthcare — 376
- Construction — 334
- Retail trade — 333
In total, these industries account for more than two-thirds of all wage arrears.
Leading regions
Dnipropetrovsk region became the absolute leader in terms of the number of debts — over 3,200 cases, or more than a third of all proceedings opened last year.
Also on the list of regions with the most problems are:
- Ivano-Frankivsk region — 1,100
- Sumy region — 897
- Lviv region — 770
On the other hand, the minimum number of cases was recorded in Luhansk region (1), Bukovina (4), and Volyn (12).
Who most often delays wages
Private companies are the main source of debt, accounting for 62% of all cases in 2025. About a quarter of cases involve municipal enterprises, and more than 13% involve state-owned enterprises.
In terms of organizational form, the most common are:
- LLCs — 32%
- Public utilities — 24.2%
- Joint stock companies — 22.3%
- State-owned enterprises — 12.5%.
The biggest wage debtors
Among individual companies, the anti-record was set by the Teplokomunenergo municipal enterprise of the Oleksandriya City Council — 1,446 proceedings in 2025 alone.
Also among the top debtors:
- Karpatnaftohim — 1,059
- Dniproazot — 630
- Svitlovodskpobut — 491
- Odesa Port Plant — 469
Several companies included in the Open Data Bot 2025 Index also had debts. Unpaid wages were found to have been collected from Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukrnafta, Ukrtransgaz, the Eskulab laboratory network, the Ukrainian gas transmission system operator, and DTEK Pavlogradvuhillya.
In most cases, the companies paid off their debts by the end of the year.
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