Ukraine has received $760 million in grant funds from Japan and Norway, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has announced.
“The funds were received through the World Bank’s PEACE in Ukraine mechanism. They will be used to cover the priority expenditures of the state budget,” Shmyhal wrote in a telegram on Wednesday.
According to him, in 2024, Ukraine expects tangible financial support from Japan. “We have held many talks on this issue in Tokyo and obtained significant results. I thank our partners for their unconditional support,” Shmyhal wrote.
Albania is planning to open its embassy in Kyiv in the near future, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after talks with his Albanian counterpart, Igli Hasani.
“During my first visit to friendly Albania, I met with Minister Igli Hasani. I thanked Albania for its strong support and solidarity with Ukraine. We identified ways to strengthen cooperation in the defense sector, paying special attention to artillery ammunition. Albania plans to open its embassy in Kyiv in the near future. I highly appreciate this decision, which will significantly strengthen our bilateral ties,” Kuleba wrote on social network X.
He also thanked Albania for its willingness to join the Core Group of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, the ministers noted effective cooperation within international organizations.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Research and Production Enterprise ENERGO-PLUS has been involved in humanitarian initiatives and has been helping the Ukrainian military. The Kremenchuk energy company provides military units with vehicles, necessary equipment and machinery. The total amount of assistance since the beginning of the full-scale invasion is more than UAH 8 million.
The funds were used to purchase VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER T5 and Mercedes-Benz VITO vans, as well as Renault Duster, NISSAN NAVARA, MITSUBISHI L200 cars and SUVs and three FORD RANGER vehicles. We also spend money on fuel and lubricants, as well as maintenance and repair of vehicles.
Another area of the company’s charitable activities is providing the military with equipment, tools, office equipment, etc. A separate part of the initiative is the purchase and delivery of 5 generators, which are an important element for power supply at the front line.
– Today, each of us must bring our country closer to victory. Ukrainian soldiers risk their lives every day for the sake of Ukraine’s independence, and we, joining our efforts, are obliged to help them,” emphasizes Yevgeniy Korf, Director of RPE ENERGO-PLUS LLC.
“The humanitarian direction is no less important, because at the beginning of the invasion, thousands of people needed shelter. Therefore, the company also joined the initiative of the Trust and Assistance Charitable Foundation to build a shelter for temporarily displaced persons.
The company’s core business is the design, development, and implementation of industrial automation, power supply, and various electrical systems for Ukrainian enterprises and private companies.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Dniprokoks), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, paid over UAH 657 million in taxes in 2023, up 64% compared to 2022.
According to the company, value added tax accounted for UAH 277.5 million in the structure of payments to budgets of all levels. Income tax amounted to UAH 122 million, and unified social tax, rent and other contributions amounted to UAH 257 million.
It is noted that this result of significant support for the state budget was noted by Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy. He sent a letter of gratitude to the company, in which he noted the hard work of the plant’s team and emphasized that DMZ is one of the industry leaders in terms of tax payments.
“I am grateful to every employee of Dneprovsky Iron and Steel Works for their contribution to the defense capability of our country, its endurance and strength. We continue to work on the economic front to maintain the financial stability of the state,” said Vitaly Bash, CEO of DCH Steel.
In 2023, the plant increased its rolled steel output by 86.2% compared to 2022, up to 105.6 thousand tons, and coke output by 38.5%, up to 292.7 thousand tons.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and products made from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
Amounts to be refunded decreased by almost one and a half times
Value added tax (VAT) accounted for one fifth of all state budget revenues in 2023. All VAT payers are entitled to a VAT refund. However, only 63% of the requested VAT refunds were paid by the State Tax Service (STS) in 2023.
Last year, VAT on imported goods amounted to UAH 366.2 billion, a 1.4-fold increase compared to the first year of the full-scale war. This is almost the same as in 2021 – UAH 380.7 billion.
At the same time, domestic VAT – that is, the tax on goods produced in the country – increased by 10% by 2021.
The situation with VAT refunds in 2023 improved slightly, but still did not reach pre-war levels. Last year, the Tax Service refunded 63% of the amounts claimed for refund, almost UAH 78.5 billion. This is 1.6 times less than in 2021. It is worth noting that the amounts to be refunded decreased by 1.4 times compared to the same pre-war year.
In general, the worst VAT refund rates over the past 4 years were recorded in 2022 – only 48% of the requested amounts, and the best – in the covid 2020: 97% of the requested amount.
Last year, VAT on domestic goods, including refunds, amounted to 8.6% of the budget, and VAT on imported goods – 11.5%. VAT will account for 20% of all state budget revenues in 2023. For comparison, in 2022, VAT brought 25% of the state treasury.
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.
