There are 478 individuals in Ukraine, each of whom is listed as an owner or beneficiary of at least 50 companies. The absolute record holder is associated with 5,889 enterprises at once. Experts warn that such a concentration of business may indicate the use of nominal owners, although it is not in itself a violation of the law.
This is stated in the Opendatabot study, published on October 26 based on data from the Unified State Register.
The analysts included individuals who are listed as owners or ultimate beneficiaries of at least 50 registered companies in the list of mass owners.
Almost 6,000 companies registered to one Ukrainian
The most companies among the study participants are associated with Kyiv resident Vitaliy Ilnytskyi - 5,889 companies.
This is more than twice the indicator of the second-ranked participant - Ruslan Merzlyakov from Donetsk, who is listed as the owner or beneficiary of 2,221 companies.
The third position is held by Vladyslav Melokhin from Kyiv - 858 enterprises. Next are Andriy Puya from Zinkiv, Poltava region, associated with 799 companies, and Kateryna Doroshenko from Kyiv - 674 companies.
Top ten owners by number of associated companies:
| Rank | Owner or beneficiary | Number of companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitaliy Ilnytskyi | 5,889 |
| 2 | Ruslan Merzlyakov | 2,221 |
| 3 | Vladyslav Melokhin | 858 |
| 4 | Andriy Puya | 799 |
| 5 | Kateryna Doroshenko | 674 |
| 6 | Valeriy Ilienko | 637 |
| 7 | Yuriy Puhyr | 571 |
| 8 | Andriy Sosonnyi | 525 |
| 9 | Tetiana Svyrydiuk | 455 |
| 10 | Valeriy Malakhov | 408 |
Vitaliy Ilnytskyi has already headed similar rankings. In August 2025, Opendatabot reported that he was listed as the owner of over 3 thousand companies, of which 886 were registered during the first half of that year.
More than a quarter of mass owners are registered in Kyiv
The highest concentration of persons who figure as owners of dozens and hundreds of enterprises is in the capital.
According to Opendatabot, Kyiv addresses belong to 131 of the 478 mass owners, or about 27.4%.
The following positions by number of such records are held by:
- Kyiv region - 34;
- Dnipropetrovsk region - 27;
- Donetsk region - 24;
- Kharkiv region - 18.
At the same time, analysts emphasize that the owner's registration address does not necessarily coincide with the place of actual work of the associated enterprises.
Every tenth mass owner has an address in occupied or frontline territories
Researchers separately analyzed owners' addresses indicated on temporarily occupied territories and in areas of active hostilities.
It turned out that 42 persons from the list have addresses on temporarily occupied territories. The most such records are in Donetsk region - 17 and Luhansk region - 16.
Another five addresses are associated with Crimea, four - with Kherson region.
Among owners with such addresses, Ruslan Merzlyakov from Donetsk has the most companies listed - 2,221. He is followed by David Stepanian from Mariupol - 205 companies and Yevhen Hasiukov from Khrustalnyi, Luhansk region - 171.
In addition, eight mass owners have addresses in areas of active hostilities. Two such records each are recorded in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
Thus, in total 50 of 478 mass owners, or about 10.5%, are linked by registration addresses to occupied territories or areas of active hostilities.
However, such data do not mean that the owners themselves are currently in these territories or that companies registered to them actually operate there.
Experts warn of risks of nominal ownership
A large number of companies associated with one individual may be an indicator of the use of nominal owners or managers.
This is emphasized by Myroslav Laba, expert on tax and regulatory policy of the Economic Expert Platform.
In his assessment, the real management of hundreds or thousands of enterprises by one person raises questions about actual control over their activities.
For tax control, it is important to establish not only formal owners and officials, but also those who actually make economic decisions and are responsible for fulfilling tax obligations.
The expert notes that the use of nominal owners is among the risks that may accompany non-transparent business operations and tax evasion schemes.
At the same time, neither a significant number of registered companies nor the place of registration of their owner alone proves the existence of illegal activity.
Opendatabot does not report any established violations or criminal proceedings regarding the persons included in the ranking.
