How Sole Proprietors Can Operate During Blackouts

In November 2025, 58% of Ukrainian businesses suspended operations due to widespread power outages. According to OpenDataBot, more than 30,000 sole proprietorships closed in December alone—and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. At the same time, the government has launched a state aid program for sole proprietors offering up to 15,000 UAH, and inverter systems are becoming more affordable. In this article, we’ll explain how to get government support, choose the right equipment, and keep your business running even without power.

What Are Blackouts and How Do They Affect Sole Proprietorships?

During the first half of 2025, Russia attacked the Ukrainian power grid more than 61 times. Every business owner felt the consequences: according to NBU estimates, the electricity shortage in December 2025–January 2026 reached record levels for the entire period of the full-scale invasion. The forecast for the first quarter of 2026 is a 12% shortage, which means regular power outages lasting 8–12 hours a day. The geographic data confirms the scale of the problem: according to the SvitloBot service, Uzhhorod is without power 13.4% of the time, Kyiv 10.2%, and Rivne 10.3%.

Large businesses are adapting by adjusting their schedules, but for sole proprietors, every power outage is a threat to their very existence. According to the Institute for Economic Research, microbusinesses lose up to 14% of their working hours due to blackouts—three times more than large companies. In regions near the front lines—Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Zhytomyr Oblasts—this figure reaches 20–28%.

Financial pressure is mounting on both sides. The cost of electricity for businesses rose by 60% between November 2025 and February 2026. Those who have switched to generators are paying three times as much as they would for grid electricity. According to a survey by the European Business Association, 61% of companies reported an increase in production costs, 58% changed their work schedules, and 50% cut back on production volumes. Industrial output fell by 2.4% in 2025, and in December, the decline accelerated to 3.5% year-over-year.

See also: How to Adapt Your Business Strategy to Economic Cycles: Financial Flexibility as a Tool for Resilience

Key Challenges for Sole Proprietors During Power Outages

Every power outage sets off a chain reaction of problems that often proves critical for small businesses:

1. Forced downtime—the cash register isn’t working, the POS terminal is turned off, and customers are going to competitors with backup power. A bakery that can’t bake bread in the morning loses its entire day’s revenue.
2. Spoiled goods—for grocery stores, pharmacies, and cafes, every hour without refrigeration means direct losses. Medications that require specific storage temperatures must be written off after the very first prolonged power outage.
3. Failure to meet obligations to partners—without the internet and electricity, it is impossible to process orders, process payments, or ship goods. A courier service without access to CRM brings the logistics chain to a halt.
4. Rising generation costs—one day of generator operation costs the facility approximately 15,000 UAH. For small businesses, the costs are proportionally lower, but the relative strain on their budget is significantly higher, since their revenue is also lower.
5. Competitive inequality—businesses that have invested in backup power operate without interruptions and are poaching customers from those who still rely on the grid.

Government Assistance for Sole Proprietors: How to Receive Up to 15,000 UAH

Since February 2, 2026, Ukraine has been implementing the “Energy Support for Sole Proprietors” program—non-repayable financial assistance from the government to cover expenses related to operating without electricity and heating. In the first 13 days, entrepreneurs submitted 23,000 applications totaling 235.8 million UAH. The program is being implemented by the Ministry of Economy and the State Employment Service, and applications can be submitted through the Diya portal.

The amount of energy assistance for sole proprietors depends on the number of employees:

To receive assistance for sole proprietors through Diya, entrepreneurs must follow several steps. First, they must log in to the Diya portal and navigate to the “Entrepreneurship” category. There, they need to select the “Energy Resilience Assistance for Sole Proprietors” service, verify their automatically populated personal information, and specify the category of expenses: equipment, fuel, or installation. The next step is to link a Diya Card or select a partner bank from the five available options: PrivatBank, monobank, A-Bank, Credit Dnipro, or Sense Bank. After the application is submitted, the State Employment Center verifies the information within 10 business days and credits the funds to the card.

The program runs through March 31, 2026. Experts view it as a positive but limited step: according to UNIAN’s estimates, it covers approximately 1% of the country’s 2.1 million sole proprietors. For a small coffee shop or pharmacy, this money would be enough to cover a month’s worth of fuel or generator maintenance. A comprehensive solution—off-grid power—requires other financial instruments.

Who Will Receive Government Assistance Through “Diy” and What to Spend It On

The program is intended for sole proprietors in Groups 2 and 3 of the simplified tax system who meet all of the following criteria:

• registered no later than December 1, 2025;
• have at least one employee;
• have no outstanding social security contributions;
• work in socially essential sectors: bakeries, coffee shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, medical offices, repair shops, service centers, daycare centers, early childhood development centers, and courier services.

The funds are earmarked for specific purposes—they can be used for generators, batteries, inverters, solar panels and components, voltage stabilizers, protective devices, cables, fuel for generators, equipment installation, or payment for electricity.

In addition to direct assistance, entrepreneurs can take advantage of two other programs through “Diy.” The first is interest-free loans of 5-7-9% up to 10 million UAH for energy equipment for small and medium-sized businesses, with a term of 3 years. The second consists of targeted regional programs for the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions.

See also: Solar Panel Business: How to Set It Up and Calculate Liquidity

Practical Tips: Off-Grid Power for Sole Proprietorships

Government subsidies of 7,500–15,000 UAH cover only a portion of the costs. True energy independence requires a systematic approach—and choosing the right equipment is critically important here. By 2025, 90% of companies had installed alternative energy sources, with 23% achieving complete autonomy. Businesses without backup power lose customers to competitors that remain operational even during blackouts.

The first solution that comes to mind is a generator. But for small businesses, an inverter system with batteries often turns out to be the better choice. Here’s why:

For a coffee shop, pharmacy, or service center, an inverter with a battery provides 4–8 hours of autonomous operation—enough to weather a typical power outage without losing customers or merchandise. A cash register, refrigerator, router, and lighting together consume 1.5–3 kW—a basic inverter system with this capacity will cost 25,000–60,000 UAH, depending on the battery capacity.

If a business needs greater autonomy, the next step is a hybrid solar power plant. A 10-kW system costs between 290,000 and 375,000 UAH, while a 30-kW system costs between 400,000 and 1,000,000 UAH. At the same time, analysts predict a 5–12% drop in solar panel prices throughout 2026, so postponing a purchase until the second half of the year is a sensible strategy for those planning a large-scale system.

The main barrier is the cost of the equipment. Even with a government grant for generators for sole proprietors, the amount doesn’t cover even a quarter of a full-fledged system. That’s why we at eDilo offer payment in installments: entrepreneurs can purchase an inverter, battery, or solar system through our service and spread the cost over several months—without putting a sudden strain on their budget.

This approach is already being put into practice. SEMPAL, a company that supplies equipment for critical infrastructure, has integrated eDilo for its customers. Customers were able to pay in installments at a lower interest rate than what banks were offering, and SEMPAL increased its sales even at the height of the energy crisis.

It’s possible to build an off-grid system in stages, even on a limited budget. First, conduct an energy audit: identify which equipment is critical (cash register, refrigerator, internet router), and calculate the total power consumption in watts. A typical coffee shop requires 2–3 kW for basic appliances, while a small pharmacy needs 1.5–2 kW. Next, choose a basic system: an inverter plus a battery for backup power to critical appliances. Next, apply for government support through Diya and use the funds received to cover part of the equipment cost or installation. Spread the remaining cost over installments via eDilo. The final step is to scale up the system by adding solar panels to reduce dependence on the grid. The green tariff for small power plants up to 50 kW in 2026 is 5.88 UAH/kWh, so surplus energy will generate additional income.