Legal mechanism of veteran entrepreneurship in Ukraine: novelities, deficiencies, proposals for improvement

Abstract

Formulation of the problem. Since February 26, 2026, when the Law of Ukraine “On Veteran Entrepreneurship” came into force, special legislation on veteran entrepreneurship has begun to form in Ukraine. It is quite natural and relevant to analyze the novelties introduced by this law for their perfection and taking into account the positive experience of other countries in supporting veteran entrepreneurship. The purpose of the study. Based on the analysis of scientific literature and current legislation of Ukraine, domestic and foreign experience in supporting veteran entrepreneurship, to identify the shortcomings of the legal mechanism of Ukrainian veteran entrepreneurship and to substantiate proposals for improving legislation on these issues. Analysis of previous research and publications. Domestic legal science pays considerable attention to the issue of veteran entrepreneurship. Thus, Chudyk-Belousova N. I. investigated the role of veteran entrepreneurship in the system of social direction of the economy, Illarionov O. Yu. analyzed the concept of veteran business and proposed to consolidate it at the legislative level, Kolisnyk A. S. investigated the legal issues of state financing and tax incentives for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives of war veterans, Shumakov N. O. the experience of Ukraine and foreign countries in supporting veteran entrepreneurship, Dyban M. P. Kmetyk Kh. V. veteran entrepreneurship as an institution of private law and an institution of economic reintegration, D. L. Zlobin, Ya. V. Petrunenko Ukrainian and international experience of social entrepreneurship as a tool for the economic reintegration of veterans. Representatives of economic science also joined the research on the topic of veteran entrepreneurship. In particular, Kraus K.M., A.I. Ignatyuk, N.M. Kraus. considered the issues of institutional, financial and project components of the practical implementation of veteran entrepreneurship and business in Ukraine, Bila I. S., Shevchenko O. O., investigated social entrepreneurship as a modern trend of economic development. Аrticle’s main body. For Ukraine, such a type of entrepreneurship as veteran entrepreneurship is of particular importance. The consequence of the long-term war with the Russian Federation is that a significant part of Ukrainian society will be made up of veterans of this war after some time. This is an extremely valuable human capital, which after the end of the war can become the driving force of the country’s socio-economic development, provided that a peoplecentered state policy is formed regarding the return of veterans to peaceful life, in particular, effective support for veteran entrepreneurship. From the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises defined by law, it is obvious that the vast majority of war veterans carry out entrepreneurial activities as small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore, before the adoption of a special law on veteran entrepreneurship, the legislative basis for state support for such enterprises was the Law of Ukraine “On the Development and State Support of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Ukraine”. With the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine «On Veteran Entrepreneurship», there was a transition from supporting veteran entrepreneurship as a type of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship to targeted support specifically for veteran entrepreneurship entities. This law introduces into the legal field such new categories as veteran entrepreneurship, veteran entrepreneurship entities, determines the procedure for obtaining the status of a veteran entrepreneurship entity, the Law does not change the general mechanism of legal regulation of entrepreneurial activity in Ukraine for veteran entrepreneurship entities. The organizational forms of such activity, its registration, application of state regulation measures to it, and taxation are carried out on general grounds. A distinctive feature of veteran entrepreneurship is the special regime of its economic support. This is expressed in the provision of its subjects with such preferential measures as participation in state and municipal support programs, receipt of subsidies, grants, access to preferential lending conditions, or participation in specialized tender procedures. However, an analysis of the experience of supporting veteran entrepreneurship in other countries shows that the Ukrainian legislator has not used all effective means of such support. Recommendations are substantiated to correct these shortcomings. Сonclusions and prospects for the development. It is extremely important for Ukraine to use the experience of effective support for veterans’ entrepreneurial activity accumulated in the world. Therefore, preferences regarding guaranteed access to orders in public procurement, leasing of state (municipal) property without an auction, and the specifics of the activities of veteran entrepreneurship entities within industrial parks and technoparks, which are classified by law as areas of state policy, must be considered as a component of a special regime of economic support for veteran entrepreneurship. It is extremely important for Ukraine to use the experience of effective support for veterans’ entrepreneurial activity accumulated in the world. Therefore, preferences regarding guaranteed access to orders in public procurement, leasing of state (municipal) property without an auction, and the specifics of the activities of veteran entrepreneurship entities within industrial parks and technoparks, which are classified by law as areas of state policy, must be considered as a component of a special regime of economic support for veteran entrepreneurship.