Enterprise relocation in Ukraine: spatial and sectoral dynamics and adaptation effects under wartime instability

The article examines enterprise relocation in Ukraine as a complex spatial and economic process that combines forced business displacement, shifts in the regional configuration of economic activity, restructuring of logistics and production relations, and enterprises’ adaptation to prolonged wartime instability. The study’s methodological framework distinguishes between the government program for relocating production enterprises from dangerous territories and broader statistics on interregional changes in companies’ registered addresses recorded in the Unified State Register. This distinction avoids equating forced relocation with other forms of business mobility and ensures a more accurate interpretation of the statistical data. The analysis covers interregional moves in 2021–2025, the sectoral structure of relocated companies in 2025, dominant relocation routes, regional inflow and outflow balances, and the recovery rate of enterprises moved under the government relocation program in 2022–2023. In 2025, interregional moves reached 12,920, up 10.7% from 2024 but still 17.1% below the 2021 level. Wholesale trade dominates the sectoral structure of mobile companies, while the most intensive business flows remain concentrated around Kyiv and other major economic centers. The positive migration balance of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions in 2025 demonstrates that contemporary business mobility cannot be explained solely by security factors and increasingly reflects market, logistical, institutional, labor, and registration motives. The study proposes a system of analytical indicators to assess relocation intensity, territorial concentration, sectoral mobility, regional business balance, and adaptation effects. The study shows that relocation effectiveness should be evaluated not only by location changes but also by enterprises’ ability to restore operations, retain personnel, rebuild supply chains, preserve customer relations, and integrate into a new regional business environment. It is argued that national and regional relocation policies should combine emergency relocation support with long-term measures to integrate relocated enterprises into host regional economies, develop industrial and logistics infrastructure, support employment, and strengthen interregional business cooperation.