In February 2026, Ukrainian businesses faced a new distribution of key challenges. According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Political Consulting among 492 industrial companies, the labor shortage remains the most serious obstacle for enterprises. Against this backdrop, issues with electricity supply and security risks are gradually taking a back seat, giving way to inflationary factors.
This is reported by Finway
Top 4 Main Obstacles for Business in February
According to the research, in February, entrepreneurs highlighted the following main difficulties:
- Lack of Workforce (64%). This issue shows a growing trend – if in January it was noted by 60% of respondents, in February it rose to 64%. Ukrainian companies are increasingly facing difficulties in finding both skilled (51.4%) and unskilled (30.8%) workers, which is related to both mobilization and migration processes.
- Rising Costs of Raw Materials and Supplies (43%). Inflationary pressure has elevated this issue to the second position among challenges for businesses.
- Risk of Conducting Business (42%). The level of concern regarding safety has significantly decreased compared to January (54%), however, this issue remains serious for large enterprises and infrastructure facilities, especially in frontline regions – Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
- Disruptions in Electricity, Water, and Heating Supply (41%). After a challenging January, when this issue troubled 48% of companies, its relevance has decreased and returned to the level of the end of the previous year.
Details of Regional Losses and Sectoral Features
Analysts emphasize that the winter period of 2025-2026 was significantly easier for businesses compared to the large blackouts of 2022-2023, when 80% of enterprises reported power outages. The average loss of working time due to electricity outages in January was 9%. However, this figure varied significantly by region: in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, 37% of time was lost, while in Khmelnytskyi, it was 24%. The metallurgy and metalworking sector proved particularly vulnerable under energy challenges, with 16% downtime recorded in February.
“Businesses are increasingly struggling to find both skilled (51.4%) and unskilled (30.8%) workers due to mobilization processes and migration.”
Among other important trends in the last month is the increase in the number of companies facing a decline in demand for their products or services (this figure rose from 21% to 29%). Additionally, logistical difficulties during internal transportation within Ukraine have intensified, reported by 23% of respondents.
It is worth noting that traditional problems such as corruption or administrative pressure are currently troubling entrepreneurs significantly less: only 3% of respondents pointed to these factors.