On February 26, 2024, Kyiv hosted the Grand Pitch Day of the educational grant program Pochinok. Ten finalists of the program presented their business ideas to the jury and competed for two main project incentives – up to $5,000 in additional funding to implement their business ideas.
The educational and grant program Pochinok aimed to improve the business skills of Ukrainian women and help them launch or develop their own businesses. The project included online and offline training, consultations with leading psychologists, mentoring from business experts, and financial support for business development.
Ten finalists of the Grand Pitch Day were selected from 200 participants of the Program, who had already attracted financial support of up to $3,000 for business development during their participation in the project. The participants received the highest scores for their business presentations from mentors from the Diia.Business network of entrepreneurial support centers, actively attended educational classes during their studies, and, accordingly, had high academic performance in the project.
“We at the Ministry of Digital Transformation are building a country of entrepreneurs. That is why we created the national project Diia.Business, which provides free opportunities and tools for entrepreneurs. We pay special attention to women entrepreneurs, as women now account for 60% of new sole proprietors. Therefore, we strive to help Ukrainian women acquire the necessary business knowledge and receive specialized support. The educational and grant program Pochinok has become a record in terms of the speed of registrations and the activity of participants. Almost 6,000 entrepreneurs took part in the program, of which 200 participants received up to $3,000 to develop their own business idea or a new line of business,” said Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration.
Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration
According to the jury’s vote, the two main awards of the Initiative were given to the following participants:
● Iryna Antonchyk, AgroHobby garden center. She studied at the Diia.Business center in Lutsk
● Natalia Olshanska, production of natural dogwood products Famberry. She studied at the Diia.Business center in Kryvyi Rih.
Winners of the Grand Pitch Day
“The Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development and the national project Diia.Business are actively involved in the implementation of educational and grant projects aimed at supporting women’s entrepreneurship. The Startup program has become an important first step for many Ukrainian women to start a business or the necessary inspiration to continue developing their own business. During the training, participants gained new business knowledge, mental, mentoring and financial support. Today we saw competitive, strong and creative participants who proved by their own example that Ukrainian business is not standing still, but is actively moving towards new achievements,” said Andriy Remizov, Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development.
Andriy Remizov, Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development
More than 6,000 women entrepreneurs took part in the educational and grant program
In the first stage of training, participants attended 11 online lectures from leading business experts and a project psychologist. Entrepreneurs learned more about: business model analysis, financial management, leadership psychology for women, strategies for success and self-development, digital transformation of small and medium-sized businesses, team management and building HR processes, etc.
The second stage of the training included 367 participants who presented presentations on their future or existing businesses to the project’s independent mentors. In addition, the entrepreneurs were involved in 11 online and offline business and psychology classes at Diia.Business centers, received individual mentoring support, and had the opportunity to compete for financial support from the Program. The total grant fund of the program is UAH 22,570,000.
“The Grand Pitch Day is of great importance as a key moment in the UN Women project “Strengthening Gender Response and Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls in the Context of the Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis in Ukraine”. This event is the culmination of efforts, a platform where women’s aspirations and entrepreneurial endeavors take center stage. It provides a unique opportunity for participants to showcase their business ideas, innovations and plans to a diverse audience,” said Julia Broussard, UN Women Deputy Representative in Ukraine.
Julia Broussard, UN Women Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine
The expert jury of the Grand Pitch Day included:
● Aslikhan Ozkan, Planning and Partnerships Specialist, UN Women Ukraine
Yevheniia Klepa, Director of Partnerships and Innovations, SET University
Valeriya Chachybaya, producer, Forbes Ukraine
Anton Shulyk, financier, entrepreneur and co-founder of fint8 platform
Grand Pitch Day jury
Criteria for evaluating the business projects of Grand Pitch Day participants by the jury:
● Vision, ability to implement the project – participants had to justify a step-by-step plan for its implementation.
● Business project, relevance and effectiveness of the project – the idea must meet the goals of the acceleration program and market requirements, having a positive impact on Ukrainian business and the culture of doing business.
● Realism of the hypothesis – the project must be aimed at meeting the needs of the target audience and meet the hypothesis of the market niche that the company plans to occupy.
Competitive advantages – the parameters that distinguish a company, product, service or business concept from competitors in the selected niche are evaluated.
Financial strategy – participants must present a description of specific areas of development of the company, product, service or business concept, which will be the focus of further investments, as well as a plan to increase the project’s profitability.
For reference:
The educational and grant program Start was implemented by the network of entrepreneur support centers Diia.Business with the assistance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development with the support of UN Women Ukraine and the Government of Japan.
The Belgian state development agency ENABEL intends to participate in projects to restore critical and social infrastructure in Ukraine and will open offices in Kyiv and Kharkiv, the press service of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development (MinRestore) reports.
“The Ministry’s team met with the Minister of Cooperation for the Development of Large Cities of Belgium, Caroline Gin and the head of the Belgian state development agency ENABEL, Jan Van Vetter. The parties agreed to start implementing projects to restore critical and social infrastructure in March,” the ministry said in a press release following the meeting.
The report notes that ENABEL has $150 million in funding at its disposal, obtained from Russian assets frozen in Belgium.
The parties also discussed the possibility of cooperation in the joint HOPE project with the World Bank to restore housing damaged by the hostilities.
The prices for soybeans in Ukraine fell by 1.5 thousand UAH/ton during the month and dropped to 16.5 thousand UAH/ton, due to the fall in world prices, according to the analytical cooperative “Start”, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (AAC).
“In Ukraine, the prices for soybeans have been actively declining over the past month. If until the end of January, processors were buying soybeans at the price of more than 18 thousand UAH/ton, at the end of January, the price tags do not exceed 16.5 thousand UAH/ton. The price reduction of Ukrainian soybeans is due to the fall of the world prices for the oilseed,” the analysts stated.
According to their information, Ukraine exported 290 thsd tonnes of the contracted volume of 300 thsd tonnes in February. Traders find it difficult to sell Ukrainian soybeans for export due to its high price, the report said.
The key markets for Ukrainian soybeans, which usually account for 50-60% of exports, are Turkey and Egypt. However, while in these countries a ton of Ukrainian soybeans has always been $10-15 cheaper than Brazilian soybeans, now the prices have not only leveled off, but the prices for Ukrainian soybeans will continue to decline.
“World prices for the oilseed are falling, which is facilitated by a record harvest in Brazil, forecasts of a high yield in Argentina, and large soybean stocks in the United States,” the experts explained.
They predict that if the conditional prices for soybeans on the basis of DAP Poland-Romania are $420/ton, they may decrease to $390/ton by the end of March. In addition, the processors reduced the purchase prices per ton in the range of 16.5-16.8 thousand UAH, by the end of March the price drop may reach 16 thousand UAH.
“Another factor that supports the decline in prices for Ukrainian oilseeds is the fall in prices for soybean meal in the EU. In addition, Poland used to be the main importer, but now this country is not the best trading partner,” Pusk summarized.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Tirana will hold a meeting with the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, will participate in the summit “Ukraine – Southeast Europe”.
“With the Prime Minister of Albania and his team we will hold talks on defense and political cooperation, support for the Formula World and work on security agreements. Albania is one of the countries that joined the G7 Vilnius Declaration, for which we are very grateful,” Zelensky wrote in his Telegram channel on Wednesday, calling Edi Rama an uncompromising friend of Ukraine.
“In the format “Ukraine – Southeast Europe”, which is meeting for the second time, we will talk about our common path to the Euro-Atlantic goal. I will offer to support Ukraine’s efforts to ensure a just and lasting peace, the organization of the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland,” he informed.
In addition, the President of Ukraine will hold bilateral meetings with the participants of the summit.
Change in consumer prices in 2022-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The European Parliament has supported the creation of a EUR 50 billion Ukraine Fund for the period 2024-2027 to support Ukraine and implement reforms for the country’s future accession to the European Union.
The relevant resolution was adopted on Tuesday in Strasbourg as part of the European Parliament’s plenary session. “536 deputies voted in favor of the resolution, 40 voted against, and 39 abstained. A total of 615 deputies took part in the voting.
“The Fund should combine recovery, reconstruction and modernization with the requirements and process of accession to the Union, linking financial support to reforms and investments with a view to joining (the EU),” the document says.
The document was authored by representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Gahler (Germany) and the Budget Committee Eider Gardiasabal Rubial (Spain).
The resolution stipulates that the EU will support Ukraine in three areas. The first is financial support for the country to implement reforms and investments, as well as to maintain its macro-financial stability. The second is to mobilize investment and increase Ukraine’s access to finance. The third is to help Ukraine on its path to European integration.
The approved decision stipulates that 33% of the resources for Ukraine will be allocated in the form of grants, “with at least 20% earmarked for the restoration, reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine’s subnational authorities, such as regions, cities and local communities.” In addition, 20% of the fund’s investments will be directed to green initiatives, and 15% to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The resolution calls for the Ukrainian government to develop a Plan for Ukraine. This plan, as noted in the document, will be “a coherent, comprehensive and adequately balanced recovery and modernization effort that supports Ukraine’s economic, social and environmental recovery, sustainable development and progress towards accession to the Union”, in line with the goals and requirements of the EUR 50 billion Ukraine Fund.
The Ukraine Plan is expected to provide a framework for other donors to identify priority areas for funding the country’s recovery.
The activities of the Ukraine Fund are to be evaluated annually by the European Commission.
“For effective monitoring, Ukraine should report once a year on the progress of the implementation of measures. Such reports prepared by the government should be appropriately reflected in the Ukraine Plan. Relevant reporting requirements should be applied to the recipients of Union funding,” the resolution says.
The EP resolution also calls for the development of ways to “utilize frozen Russian assets.
The text emphasizes “the importance of working with international allies to achieve this goal.” “This includes ensuring progress on how to use frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine,” the document says.
The approval of the Fund for Ukraine by the European Parliament now paves the way for the EU Council to adopt an official regulation, which will enter into force after publication in the EU’s Official Journal.
Earlier, the European Commission’s proposal to establish the Ukraine Fund was approved by the EU Council at an extraordinary meeting on February 1, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the decision at a scheduled meeting held last December.
