On August 28, 2025, the Commercial Code of Ukraine (CC of Ukraine) ceased to be valid. The owner of an agribusiness should monitor legislative updates and understand how current changes will affect his enterprise. The right strategy of actions will prevent further legal difficulties and unexpected problems.
Those who do not pay attention to legislative updates, unfortunately, may not exercise some rights or may not have the necessary documents for their assets at all. Which, of course, will affect business relations with counterparties.
Do you need to change the form of the enterprise, re-register property and renew contracts? And how will the abolition of the CC of Ukraine affect the agricultural sector as a whole? Pay attention to the following key points.
Reorganization of enterprises
If your business is a farm, then you should not worry. This form will continue to exist, but it does not need to be converted into a limited liability company (LLC) or a joint-stock company (JSC). The changes will mainly affect state, municipal or private enterprises. They have until August 28, 2028 to reorganize. State and municipal enterprises must change their form of activity to LLC or JSC, and private (PE) enterprises must change their form of activity to LLC.
If the innovation is ignored and nothing is done by 2028, the charters of such companies will soon become invalid, and these businesses will exist purely on paper.
Abolition of economic management and operational management
These concepts will be replaced by usufruct – the right to use state or municipal property and receive income from it, but without the possibility of disposal (selling or transferring such assets to anyone else).
Also, the right to permanent use of land plots will no longer exist. And those who want to rent land will sign an agreement for a period of up to 50 years.
No contradictions between the Civil and Commercial Codes
Now the Civil Code of Ukraine (CC of Ukraine) and the Law of Ukraine “On the Peculiarities of Regulation of Activities of Legal Entities of Certain Organizational and Legal Forms in the Transitional Period and Associations of Legal Entities” will regulate business relations between farmers or agricultural enterprises and other business entities. And the abolition of the Civil Code of Ukraine will solve the long-standing problem of contradictions between the provisions of both codes and bring the legislation of our state closer to EU standards.
The need to revise and correct old agreements
Checking your documents and contracts after the introduction of changes will eliminate any inaccuracies and references to outdated legislation. For example, agricultural entrepreneurs are often suppliers of agricultural products (vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.) and have signed purchase agreements in the past. However, the Civil Code does not provide for a purchase agreement as a separate type.
Farmers who have concluded such contracts must update and renegotiate them. Purchase contracts must be replaced with supply contracts. Ignoring the changes will lead to uncertainty in relations between customers and suppliers and disputes between them.
I also advise you to review all past agreements and company charters, because they may contain references to the provisions of the no longer valid Civil Code of Ukraine. As a result, these documents will be left without specific steps to resolve problem situations.
A check will not be superfluous
Changes to the legislation will mainly concern state-owned enterprises, but private companies or individual entrepreneurs should not relax either. PEs will soon become LLCs with one participant. And it never hurts to update contracts and charters and check the status of your property in use. Timely renegotiated agreements and a full legal analysis of internal documentation and the land bank are the best safeguard against disputes.
