Franchise development in Ukraine

Ukrainian law calls a franchise a commercial concession. Under Article 1115 of the Civil Code, the rights holder grants the user, for a fee, the right to use a set of rights in line with the rights holder's requirements, to make and sell goods or provide services. The subject matter can include trademarks, industrial designs, inventions, works, trade secrets, commercial experience and business reputation (Art. 1116). Both parties must be business entities (Art. 1117). The agreement must be in writing, or it is void (Art. 1118).

Three points that older guides often get wrong:

Other rules that shape the deal: the rights holder must hand over the technical and commercial documentation and instruct the user's staff, and by default provides ongoing support, training and quality control (Art. 1120). The rights holder carries subsidiary liability for quality claims against the franchisee, and is jointly liable with the franchisee for claims brought against the franchisee as the manufacturer of the rights holder's products (Art. 1123). An open-ended agreement can be terminated by either side on at least six months' notice (Art. 1126(1)), and the agreement ends if the rights holder's trademark right lapses without replacement (Art. 1126(3)). Our full walkthrough of these articles is in the commercial concession agreement (in Ukrainian) article.

Franchisors from Canada, the EU or elsewhere usually arrive with a disclosure-ready package built for their home market. What changes for Ukraine:

Ukraine has no pre-contract disclosure statute comparable to Ontario's Arthur Wishart Act, under which a prospective franchisee must receive a disclosure document at least 14 days before signing or paying. Earnings claims still carry risk: the Law on Advertising treats advertising that misleads through inaccuracy, exaggeration or omission as misleading advertising and bans it (Arts. 1(11) and 10). We present franchisee earnings only as a model with stated assumptions and several scenarios.

For a Ukrainian company the sequence is the same one we use on every project:

1. 01

   Diagnostics

   Owner interview, unit numbers by month, trademark check, readiness test. Outcome: package now, fix the model first, or grow your own network instead.

2. 02

   Model and numbers

   Outlet format, territory, franchisee profile, the franchisor's own economics, entry fee and royalty. See the franchise financial model (in Ukrainian).

3. 03

   Network documents

   Operations manual, brand and outlet standards, training programme.

4. 04

   Legal drafting

   The lawyer turns our business content into the concession agreement, trademark licence and NDA.

5. 05

   Sales kit

   Presentation, one-pager, franchise website or section, ads aimed at franchisees, lead qualification.

6. 06

   First partner

   Close support for the first franchised outlet, then manual and model updates based on what it reveals.

The full document list is in our franchise package checklist (in Ukrainian). When a Ukrainian brand is ready to go abroad, the taking a Ukrainian franchise to the EU and Canada (in Ukrainian) article covers trademarks, disclosure rules and the financial model for a new country. For market-specific detail, see our pages on franchise development in Canada and franchise development in Europe.

• Franchise model

  Format, territory, franchisee requirements, what is transferred, what the franchisor keeps central

  Who does it Marketing MIX with the owner

• Financial model

  Franchisor economics and franchisee unit economics: investment, monthly costs, break-even, payback, scenarios

  Who does it Marketing MIX on your actual data

• Operations manual

  Product and service standards, daily processes, roles, checklists, reporting

  Who does it Your team supplies the know-how, we structure and write

• Brand and outlet standards

  Brand book, signage, interior, uniforms, templates

  Who does it Marketing MIX

• Training

  Pre-opening programme for the franchisee and staff, certification

  Who does it Joint

• Sales kit

  Presentation, one-pager, franchise website, franchisee advertising, qualification

  Who does it Marketing MIX

• Legal block

  Commercial concession agreement, trademark licence, NDA, annexes

  Who does it Ukrainian lawyer, with our business content

Related services that often run alongside: market analysis before choosing cities, marketing strategy for the network, business plan development for franchisees who need financing, and website development for the franchise section.

Fast Coffee is a network of self-service coffee stations in Ottawa and nearby Canadian cities, a brand within our group. The website serves two audiences: businesses that need coffee and future franchisees. For franchisees we built a section on terms, requirements, financing, support, marketing and training, and an operator document pack: business plan, presentation, unit economics, FAQ, one-pager and letters in English and French, plus location licence agreements in both languages. During the work we removed income promises and a "guaranteed money back" line from the site, because in Ontario franchise sales require a disclosure document under the Arthur Wishart Act. We now check for this in every project. Fast Coffee case.

Cookiddoo is a children's cooking studio in Kanata (Ottawa) that the Marketing MIX team launched from scratch with its founder; the work began in September 2024. Its four-language website has a franchise page for partners across Canada covering the launch plan, staff training, programme, branding and marketing support. Cookiddoo case.

Marketing MIX was founded in Kyiv in 2014 and has been headquartered in Ottawa since 2024, so we work in both the Ukrainian and Canadian markets.

Marketing MIX is a marketing and business packaging studio. We are responsible for the model, numbers, standards, brand, website and franchise sales. The commercial concession agreement, trademark licence, tax and payment structure are drafted and signed off by a Ukrainian lawyer and accountant, either your own or one we bring into the project.

We price franchise development as a fixed estimate after a brief, listing every document and stage; lawyer fees and state trademark fees appear as separate lines. The first step is a paid 30-minute consultation for 100 €, where we assess readiness and scope. If you prefer it in writing, a written review starts at 200 €: you send your numbers and current materials, we return a readiness assessment, a document list and a work plan. Reach us through the contact page.