On 21 August 2025, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law which limited access to some publicly available data contained in online state registers. Specifically, the law restricts public access to information on the location of real estate and cadastral parcel numbers belonging to legal entities. In March, a number of Ukrainian journalists and anti-corruption groups warned that the law is overly broad and would make it more difficult to expose corruption.
Maksym Opanasenko, editor-in-chief of investigative outlet Bihus.Info, told press freedom group Institute of Mass Information (IMI) that the changes would not “critically” affect the work of journalists, but that it would be more difficult for them to access certain documents. Martyna Bohuslavets, the head of anti-corruption centre MEZHA, claimed in a post on Facebook that the law would make it easier for authorities to investigate journalists and activists for exposing the corruption of law enforcement officials. She pointed out that corrupt assets are often registered under the names of legal entities, and that now these would be hidden to a greater extent from public view.
Lawmakers sponsoring the bill — Igor Fris, Serhiy Demchenko, and Volodymyr Vatras (all from the “Servant of the People” party of President Volodymyr Zelensky) — claimed that the law would help protect defence industry companies and the confidentiality of their operations during wartime.