In the register of citizens of Ukraine and their family members, who were granted the status of foreigners based on the special law, there were 1.012 million people registered in October 2022, of whom approximately 40 % were women and 10 % were men of working age. Within this number, as many as 380,000 people took up employment, but also thousands of Ukrainians established their own companies in Poland.

According to data from the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity (CEIDG), there is a steady increase in the number of business activities established by Ukrainians in Poland in 2022. From January to September 2022, 10,207 Ukrainian companies started operations, with a spike in the number of start-ups after the outbreak of the war.

Most of the companies established in Poland were continuation businesses, as migrants, having escaped to Poland before the war, also moved their businesses to our country. For others who had not done business in Ukraine before the war, setting up a company in Poland offered the opportunity to cooperate with Polish companies. In general, however, setting up a company in Poland is an opportunity for many Ukrainians to raise their own funds to support themselves and their families.

The Polish Economic Institute analysed the structure of migrants arriving in Poland and found that, although most companies in Poland should be set up by women, the share of Ukrainian companies run by women is about 41 %. This is therefore less than companies set up by men, but, in comparison, Polish businesses set up by women at the same time make up only 36 %.

Ukrainian businesses run by women operate primarily in the sectors of other service activities (31%), information and communication (11%) and trade (11%). Within the other service activities section, as many as 89% of companies dealt with hairdressing and other beauty treatments.

Adrian Andrzejewski