Expertise of the Activities of Socially Oriented Enterprises in Ukraine
Pavlov K. V., Romaniuk R. V., Kramar O. Y., Poltorak O. V.

Pavlov, Kostiantyn V. et al. (2026) “Expertise of the Activities of Socially Oriented Enterprises in Ukraine.” The Problems of Economy 2:255–262.
https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-0712-2026-2-255-262

Section: Economics and Enterprise Management

UDC 334.012.46:330.13

Abstract:
The article scientifically substantiates the theoretical and methodological foundations and develops practical institutional mechanisms for conducting a comprehensive assessment of the activities of socially-oriented enterprises in Ukraine during wartime and European integration processes. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale armed aggression and profound socioeconomic transformations, social business is gaining strategic importance, organically combining commercial self-sufficiency with addressing the society’s existential problems – employment and integration of internally displaced persons (IDPs), demobilized veterans, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. It has been proved that the systematic cascading growth of this sector’s role in Ukraine is critically limited by the absence of unified analytical methods for monitoring and evaluation, which complicates stakeholder interaction with international donors, hinders the attraction of funding, and creates a favorable environment for manipulative declarative «social washing». The scientific novelty of the research lies in the formation of a four-block comprehensive model for the expertise of social sector enterprises’ activities based on the development of the classical concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) by J. Elkington. The authors have proposed and scientifically substantiated a definition of the term «expertise» in relation to the studied category of economic entities as a systemic, independent examination of the results of their operations across four interconnected dimensions: financial (stability, liquidity, and verification of allocating at least 25% of profit to a social mission), social (scope of coverage and quality of services for beneficiaries), managerial (level of corporate transparency, non-financial reporting, and stakeholder engagement), and environmental (energy efficiency, carbon footprint, and waste management). The authors conducted a deep epistemological structuring and highlighted the principles for identifying social businesses based on applying the principle of social priority, regardless of their legal or organizational form. The practical significance of the results is revealed in the comparative analysis of key international standards for social impact assessment (SROI, GRI, B Impact Assessment, and social audit), which substantiates a differentiated approach to their adaptation and implementation in domestic practice. Based on empirical economic-statistical data from the Ministry of Social Policy and leading analytical centers for the years 2022–2024, radical shifts in the geographical and sectoral structure of the Ukrainian market have been characterized, caused by mass waves of relocation of enterprises and their target audience to the western regions. In order to build a transparent national expertise system, five priority areas of institutional reform have been formed: developing national adapted standards for social reporting; launching systematic State monitoring; creating an independent center for audit verification accreditation based on the successful Polish model (Sie? Odpowiedzialnego Biznesu); total digitalization and automation of data collection; as well as large-scale staffing of the sector by integrating specialized disciplines into university programs with support from UNDP, USAID, and EU4Business.

Keywords: socially-oriented enterprise; social entrepreneurship; expertise; social impact assessment; SROI; social audit; ESG; Ukraine; wartime.

Tabl.: 2. Bibl.: 19.

Pavlov Kostiantyn V. – Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Professor, Professor, Department of Economics and Trade, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (13 Voli Ave., Lutsk, 43025, Ukraine)
Email: pavlovkostya@gmail.com
Romaniuk Roman V. – Candidate of Sciences (Economics), Head, Volyn Regional State Administration (9 Kyivskyi Maidan, Lutsk, 43027, Ukraine)
Email: roman.romaniuk@ukr.net
Kramar Oles Yu. – Postgraduate Student, Department of Economics and Trade, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (13 Voli Ave., Lutsk, 43025, Ukraine)
Email: naukoviy@icloud.com
Poltorak Oleksandr V. – Master, Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Marketing, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (13 Voli Ave., Lutsk, 43025, Ukraine)
Email: naukoviy@icloud.com

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