News · Investment
Invest in western Ukraine after the C8 summit: 55 Carpathian projects worth about €8bn and a new investment coalition
On 18–19 September 2026 Bukovel hosted the first summit of the Carpathian Integration Initiative (C8). It presented a joint portfolio of 95 projects worth more than €42.5bn, including 55 projects worth about €8bn from Ukraine's Carpathian regions, and on 19 September the region's investment agencies launched the Carpathian Investment Coalition. For a company that plans to invest in western Ukraine, the coalition can bring matchmaking and investor missions; the Ukrainian company, bank account and work permits remain the investor's task.
Start with what a foreign investor deals with in Ukraine; legal.ua, the law firm in our group, handles the set-up.
What did the C8 summit in Bukovel decide?
The summit produced a joint portfolio, over €1bn in investment, financial and trade arrangements, and an agency coalition. UkraineInvest reports about 1,400 participants from 25 countries, including nearly 400 companies, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi attending.
The C8 are Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The portfolio breaks down as follows:
| Country | Projects | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine (Carpathian regions) | 55 | about €8bn |
| Poland | 5 | €13.2bn |
| Czechia | 9 | €7.44bn |
| Austria | 7 | €5.5bn |
| Romania | 5 | €5.16bn |
| Slovakia | 8 | €2.53bn |
| Serbia | 6 | €0.63bn |
| Total | 95 | more than €42.5bn |
Hungary has no line in the published breakdown. The portfolio covers energy, industry and manufacturing, transport and logistics, infrastructure and real estate, innovative technologies, agrifood, healthcare and construction materials.
What is the Carpathian Investment Coalition?
The Carpathian Investment Coalition is a voluntary platform of C8 investment agencies set up to turn fragmented regional opportunities into a structured, investable project pipeline. Its joint declaration was announced on 19 September 2026 in Bukovel, in the presence of Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Environment Oleksandr Kravchenko and Deputy EU Ambassador Gediminas Navickas. Members:
- UkraineInvest (Ukraine)
- Austrian Business Agency, ABA
- CzechInvest
- Polish Investment and Trade Agency, PAIH
- Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade, ARICE
- Development Agency of Serbia, RAS, with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, CCIS
- Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency, SARIO
Its work may include investor missions, B2B and B2G matchmaking, project preparation and links to European and international financial institutions. Participation in specific activities stays voluntary and within each agency's mandate.
What does the investor still set up on its own?
The legal entry: a vehicle, a bank account, permits for foreign managers and site checks. UkraineInvest states on its services page that its help is free of charge and that it does not provide tax or legal advice.
| Ukrainian LLC with a foreign founder | Branch or representative office | |
|---|---|---|
| Registrar's deadline | 24 hours, weekends and holidays excluded (Law No. 755-IV, Art. 26(1)(1)) | 5 working days (Art. 26(1)(9)) |
| State fee | None listed in Art. 36 | UAH 3,330 in 2026 (Art. 36; Budget Law 2026, Art. 7) |
| Foreign managers | Work permit, decided within 7 working days (Law No. 5067-VI, Art. 42-6) | Exempt from work permits (Art. 42(6)(8)) |
Foreign documents need an apostille or consular legalisation (unless a treaty provides otherwise) and a certified translation; a corporate founder also files a register extract issued no earlier than one month before filing (Law No. 755-IV, Art. 15(1)). See our non-resident registration guide and the bank account guide.
What to do in the next 30 days
Four steps turn a coalition contact into a project you can sign:
- Ask UkraineInvest or your home agency in the coalition for Ukrainian projects in your sector.
- Choose the vehicle, LLC or branch, with a lawyer before a term sheet fixes the structure.
- Apostille a fresh register extract in the month you file; start work permits in parallel.
- Check the Ukrainian partner before the first payment with financial and tax due diligence at keys.ua.
These deadlines are statutory. In our experience the real calendar depends on paperwork abroad, bank compliance and state bodies, and varies by case.
Frequently asked questions
What is the C8, or Carpathian Eight?
The eight countries of the Carpathian Integration Initiative: Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Their first summit took place in Bukovel on 18–19 September 2026.
Will UkraineInvest register my company in Ukraine?
UkraineInvest gives free information and referrals and states that it provides no tax or legal advice. Registration, permits and banking are arranged by the investor, usually with a Ukrainian law firm.
How fast can a foreign investor register a company in Ukraine?
The registrar has 24 hours for an LLC and five working days for a branch. Apostilled paperwork abroad usually takes longer.
legal.ua sets up the Ukrainian side of a C8 project: an LLC with a foreign founder or a representative office, and work permits for foreign managers.
Ask legal.ua about company set-up
Or ask us first through the form on the home page or at info@ua4all.org. Related: representative office · work permits.
Primary sources
Facts on this page were checked against the primary sources on 28 September 2026.
- UkraineInvest: Carpathian Integration Initiative Summit, 18–19 September 2026
- UkraineInvest: Carpathian Investment Coalition launched, 19 September 2026
- UkraineInvest: Our services (no tax or legal advice, free of charge)
- Law of Ukraine No. 755-IV on State Registration, Arts. 15, 26, 36
- Law of Ukraine No. 5067-VI on Employment of the Population, Arts. 42, 42-6
- Law of Ukraine No. 4695-IX on the State Budget for 2026, Art. 7
This page describes how a procedure is structured. It is background information for planning a conversation with a lawyer or accountant, and it creates no client relationship. Figures follow the primary sources listed above.
Ukraine For ALL is part of a group that includes the law and tax firms named on this page. When we point you to one of them, we are pointing you to a related business.
Ukraine For ALL · Kyiv, 77 Velyka Vasylkivska St. · info@ua4all.org
