Ukraine is recording record wage arrears

According to the Unified Register of Debtors, more than 36.6 thousand wage arrears were recorded at the beginning of 2026. Over the year, the arrears increased by 6%. Most often, wages are delayed in the chemical industry and in the supply of electricity and gas. Among the regions, Dnipropetrovsk Region is among the worst — more than a third of all wage arrears.

This is reported by the media with reference to data from Opendatabot.

It is noted that 36,629 active enforcement proceedings for non-payment of wages are recorded in Ukraine at the beginning of 2026. Over the year, collections of wages not paid on time increased by 6%.

According to analysts, last year Ukrainian companies set an anti-record: 9,174 enforcement proceedings on wage debts against 488 companies. This is 30% more than in 2024 and the highest figure over the past 5 years.

56% of the collections opened last year for wage arrears have still not been repaid.

The oldest proceeding found in the debtors’ register dates back to 2017 — there, the state enterprise “Poliskgeodezkartohrafiia,” which is in the process of termination, owes money to its employees. In total, almost two thousand active cases were opened back in 2017.

Opendatabot notes that more often than others last year, companies that produce chemical products did not pay funds to their employees: more than 2.6 thousand proceedings, or 29% of all. Almost as many debts were recorded for enterprises in the electricity and gas supply sector (27%).

More than a third of all proceedings opened last year fall on Dnipropetrovsk Region — 3.2 thousand cases. With a significant gap, negative examples are followed by businesses from Ivano-Frankivsk Region (1.1 thousand), Sumy Region (897), and Lviv Region (770).

At the same time, only 1 case was recorded in Luhansk Region, another 4 in Chernivtsi Region, and 12 proceedings for wage debts in Volyn.

Analysts note that funds are predominantly delayed by private companies: 62% of all debts for 2025. Another quarter of cases concerns municipal enterprises and more than 13% state-owned ones. Limited liability companies, municipal enterprises, and joint-stock companies appear most often.

The absolute leader in the number of wage arrears was the municipal enterprise “Teplokomunenerho” of the Oleksandriia City Council, against which 1,446 cases were opened in 2025.

It is followed by “Karpatnaftokhim” (1,059), “Dniproazot” (630), “Svitlovodskbyt” (491), and the “Odesa Port Plant” (469). Some companies managed to close most cases by the end of the year, but for others hundreds of proceedings remained active.

Collections of wages not paid on time were found against “Ukrzaliznytsia,” “Ukrnafta,” “Ukrtranshaz,” the laboratory chain “Esculab,” the “Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine,” and DTEK “Pavlohradvuhillia.” In most cases, the companies closed the debts by the end of the year.

According to the latest taxpayer reports, the average wage in Ukraine in 2025 amounted to 20,787 UAH (€412). This is 8.3% higher than a year earlier.