Since the launch of operations in early 2025, Ukrainian Clearing House LLC (UCH) has been providing clearing and guaranteeing the fulfillment of obligations on organized commodity markets in Ukraine.
The results of a year and a half of work indicate dynamic infrastructure growth and clear market segmentation: from a highly competitive timber sector with thousands of regional counterparties to concentrated capital-intensive energy markets.
Structure of clearing members
As of the end of the first half of 2026, the UCH had accredited 6,180 clearing participants. The distribution by product segment demonstrates the high involvement of small and medium-sized businesses in the timber sector:
Commodity segment
Number of accredited participants
Share
Untreated timber and lumber
5 127
83,0%
Natural gas
244
3,9%
Electricity (commercial section)
239
3,9%
Liquefied gas
157
2,5%
Oil and gas condensate
156
2,5%
Oil prosucts
116
1,9%
Raw materials and other products
46
0,7%
Coal products
37
0,6%
In total
6 180
100%
Cost distribution of clearing operations
In terms of the value of transactions admitted to clearing, two-thirds of the market (67%) falls on the energy sector:
Oil and gas condensate — 31%: the most liquid sector, forming a significant share of cash turnover.
Natural gas — 16%: a systemic basic segment of organized exchange trading.
Electricity (commercial section) — 12%: a segment with a growing role for clearing in resolving non-payment issues and minimizing counterparty risks.
Liquefied gas — 8%: a stable motor fuel sector with high turnover.
The untreated timber and lumber segment accounts for 33% of the total value, providing important diversification of the clearing house’s operations structure. Other segments (oil products, coal, agricultural raw materials) collectively account for less than 1%, indicating significant room for further scaling up of organized trade.
Comparative analysis: scale vs. concentration
Comparing the number of transactions and their monetary value reveals a fundamental difference in the profiles of the markets:
The timber market is the undisputed leader in terms of the physical number of transactions. At the same time, the average amount of one transaction here is only about UAH 141 thousand, which is typical of a fragmented market with high competition and a wide range of woodworking enterprises.
Energy markets, on the contrary, are highly concentrated: with a relatively small number of accredited companies and contracts, the average size of a clearing transaction reaches UAH 9.5 million (almost 67 times higher than in woodworking).
Conclusions:
This structure of operations confirms the readiness of the risk management systems of the Ukrainian Clearing House to work effectively with both mass small transactions (requiring high automation and system performance) and large energy contracts (requiring reliable financial guarantee, coverage and default management instruments).
Risk management
