How a London-listed fund could open global capital to Ukrainian companies
A general view of the London Stock Exchange in London, United Kingdom, on Jan. 19, 2026. (Jonathan Brady / PA Images / Getty Images)
on GoogleA new investment fund launched on the London Stock Exchange could help bring more money to Ukrainian companies battered by Russia's four-year-old invasion.
HANetf, a European exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer, launched its new Ukraine Reconstruction ETF on March 12.
ETFs allow investors to buy and sell a basket of assets, such as stocks and bonds, in a single item. The new ETF includes publicly traded companies set to play a role in Ukraine's postwar recovery — such as European infrastructure and energy companies.
The fund's creators hope it will give investors a chance to benefit from Ukraine's eventual reconstruction — already estimated to require over $500 billion — while signaling to Ukrainian companies and prospective investors that global capital markets stand ready to back successful Ukrainian businesses when they are large enough to list.
"We believe the fund will be a buyer of Ukrainian companies when they start to come to public markets and are eligible for inclusion in the ETF," Tom Bailey, head of research at HANetf.
Ukrainian companies are yet to meet the criteria to be included in the fund, but HANetf hope that the ETF's existence will have a cascading effect, encouraging investors to look more closely at Ukraine.
"When planning how to raise capital, Ukrainian companies can now consider that there is a fund out there that will (eventually) buy Ukrainian companies," Bailey added.
While reconstruction is a hot topic, there was previously no simple avenue for Ukrainian companies to get access to Western cash, nor for investors to get exposure to the returns from a future recovery drive.
"We hope that the ETF will be a real, meaningful buyer of early-stage Ukrainian companies."
"Capital markets in Ukraine never took off. It is very hard for a portfolio investor to get exposure to Ukrainian assets, other than eurobonds and a few stocks, to profit from reconstruction," Mykhaylo Demkiv, financial analyst at Ukrainian investment fund ICU, told the Kyiv Independent.
"This ETF could create a virtuous cycle, encouraging people to invest more in Ukrainian companies — especially for those investing in riskier assets," Demkiv added.
The eligibility criteria to be included on the fund are more lenient for Ukrainian companies. For example, European companies must meet a market capitalization of at least $100 million, whereas Ukrainian companies have to hit just half that.
The ETF is recalibrated every three months, meaning that Ukrainian companies can be included once they tick all the boxes.
"We wanted to speed up and lower the hurdles for Ukrainian companies, since we want to have exposure to the Ukrainian companies likely to play a role in reconstruction," says Tom Bailey.
There could be many more such examples in the future, as Ukrainian defense startups eye joining global capital markets.
"Ukraine's defense tech companies, most of which are not investable right now, are potentially going to be really important companies for Europe in the future. We wanted to create a vehicle that would capture those companies when they come to market in the future," said Bailey.
Two Ukrainian companies were listed on the NASDAQ in the last year, one of the world's biggest stock exchanges. They include telecoms giant Kyivstar — the first Ukrainian company in history to list on NASDAQ — and recently, defense tech company Swarmer.
"We hope that the ETF will be a real, meaningful buyer of early-stage Ukrainian companies," Bailey said.
The fund currently has $3 million assets under management.
The fund is also taking into account the large number of successful Ukrainian private companies not listed on the stock market. The ETF can purchase investment trusts — structures that have exposure to unlisted companies but trade on the market.
Up to 5% of the ETF can be invested in such investment trusts, says Bailey, if credible ones pop up later on.
With ambitions to be a large player, the fund could be a boon for Ukrainian capital markets, which the government is already trying to modernize and develop.
Ukraine passed Law 3585 in 2024, seeking to more closely align the country's capital markets with European and international standards.
But there are also hurdles still to overcome. The National Bank of Ukraine imposed strict capital controls after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, to avoid large amounts of cash suddenly leaving the country.
"I expect that the current capital controls will stay in one form or another for a couple of years after the war, so exiting from an investment could be tough," Demkiv said.
