Support for entrepreneurial activities of war veterans: status of legal provisions and prospective legislation

Abstract

Formulation of the problem. Supporting the return of war veterans to civilian life, stimulating and supporting their economic activity in general, and entrepreneurial activity in particular, is an extremely important direction of state veteran policy. Currently, the legislation regulating the entrepreneurial activities of war veterans in Ukraine is only being formed. Therefore, many problematic issues arise that require the development of an effective mechanism for their resolution. The purpose of the study. Based on an analysis of scientific literature, domestic and foreign experience in supporting war veterans, to substantiate proposals for improving legislation on veteran entrepreneurship, in particular, the concept of veteran entrepreneurship, and resolving other legal problems in this area. Analysis of previous studies and publications. Domestic legal science pays considerable attention to the issue of veteran entrepreneurship. Thus, on June 30, 2025, at the Research Institute of Legal Support for Innovative Development of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, within the framework of a round table dedicated to the legal support of professional adaptation and the right to entrepreneurial activity of war veterans [2], a range of issues regarding various aspects of veteran entrepreneurship were discussed. Among them: the creation of a legal mechanism for state support of veterans’ entrepreneurial activities (Podrez-Ryapolova I.V.), certain legal aspects of applying international experience in state support for the development of the entrepreneurial potential of veterans (Kolisnyk A. S.), comparative analysis of support for veteran entrepreneurship in Ukraine and the countries of the European Union (Zagorui I. S., Zagorui L. M.), challenges and reality of legal support for entrepreneurial activity and social adaptation of disabled war veterans (Salinko G.O., Shapovalova O.V.), wartime tax innovations as a risk for veterans’ exercise of the right to entrepreneurial activity and their evasion from paying taxes (Yakutin V.V.). Representatives of economic science Kraus K.M., Ignatyuk A.I., Kraus N.M. also joined the research on the topic of veteran entrepreneurship, who considered the issues of institutional, financial, and project components of the practical implementation of veteran entrepreneurship and business in Ukraine[3]. Аrticle’s main body. For Ukraine, such a type of private entrepreneurship as veterans’ entrepreneurship is of particular importance. The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for eleven years. Therefore, after some time, a significant part of Ukrainian society will be made up of veterans of this war. This is an extremely valuable human capital, which after the end of the war can become a driving force for the country’s socio-economic development, provided that an appropriate human-centered state policy is formed regarding the return of veterans to peaceful life. Maximum promotion of the development of such a type of economic activity of veterans as their entrepreneurial activity is an effective means of returning veterans to peaceful life. Therefore, the mechanism of legal regulation of veteran entrepreneurship in general, and, in particular, the concept of veteran entrepreneurship, must be perfect. Until February 26, 2026, when the Law of Ukraine “On Veteran Entrepreneurship” comes into force, Ukrainian legislation does not contain special norms regarding the conduct of entrepreneurial activities by war veterans. The organizational forms of such activity, its legalization, application of state regulation tools to it, and taxation are carried out on the basis common to all. Currently, the peculiarity of the regulation of veteran entrepreneurship is exclusively its targeted state support. With the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine «On Veteran Entrepreneurship», the legal regulation of veterans’ entrepreneurial activities will acquire certain features, in particular, a legal definition of the concept of veteran entrepreneurship will appear. Analysis of the norms of the Tax Code of Ukraine shows that this concept cannot be considered successful and does not meet the requirements of current legislation. Also, the concept of veteran entrepreneurship defined by the law highlighted the problem with the general concept of entrepreneurial activity, which arose after the abolition of the Economic Code of Ukraine. Сonclusions and prospects for the development The state is increasing its attention to supporting the economic activity of war veterans, which is confirmed by the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Veteran Entrepreneurship”. To resolve the problems that arose with its adoption, it is necessary to make changes to the concept of veteran entrepreneurship defined by this law. The general concept of entrepreneurship also needs improvement, the content of which has changed significantly after the abolition of the Commercial Code of Ukraine.