The “Own Business” program as part of the government’s eRobota project was launched in July 2022. It is designed for Ukrainians who want to receive funds to start or develop their business.
A microgrant to start or develop your own business gives a person a real chance to realize their business idea. Under this program, you can get a microgrant for starting or developing a business from UAH 50 to 250 thousand, depending on the number of jobs created. This is a non-refundable financial assistance provided by the state to individual entrepreneurs, individuals and legal entities – in return, the microgrant recipient undertakes to create new jobs, employ workers and pay salaries and taxes for three years.
The Kyiv City Employment Center invites residents of the capital to participate in the state grant program “Own Business”.
The algorithm for receiving a microgrant:
1) Create a business plan;
2) Submit an application and a business plan through the Diia portal;
3) Defend the online business plan at the employment center;
4) Obtain a decision of the State Employment Center and open an account in an authorized bank (Oschadbank);
5) Receive funds to the account, create new jobs, hire employees and start working.
Both entrepreneurs and citizens with no business experience can receive a microgrant.
Over the course of the program, 1357 participants have been approved for financial support from the state to implement business projects in Kyiv.
The average microgrant amount was UAH 240 thousand. The total amount of microgrants amounted to UAH 326 million. Most projects are being implemented in the areas of wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (30% of the total); temporary accommodation and catering (16%); and the processing industry (14%).
84% of grant recipients have a university degree, 6% have specialized secondary education, 4% have incomplete higher education, 5% have secondary education, and 1% have a scientific degree. The majority of grant program winners (60%) are individual entrepreneurs, 25% are individuals, and 15% are legal entities.
The microgrants will be used to create 2623 new jobs in Kyiv.
At the same time, since the launch of the Grant for Veterans and Their Spouses program on April 10, 2023, 35 participants’ business projects have been approved. The total amount of grants amounted to almost UAH 15 million. The program participants whose projects were given preference chose the following types of activities: production and supply of demining tools and humanitarian demining equipment; provision of medical services; wholesale and retail trade.
The program participants will create at least 62 new jobs with the grants.
Do you dream of starting or expanding a business but lack funds? There is a chance to get them by participating in grant programs. You can apply for the program right now through the Diia portal. Consultations on grants are available at the Kyiv City Employment Center. Telegram support of the Kyiv City Employment Center: https://t.me/DCZKyiv.
Ukraine on Wednesday received EUR 150 million in non-repayable financial assistance from the EU as part of a bilateral agreement to finance the Support for Ukraine’s Early Recovery program (State Building and Resilience Contract), the Finance Ministry said.
“Grant funding will help ensure priority measures to restore critical facilities affected by Russia’s armed aggression, including transport infrastructure, utilities and services, social infrastructure and residential areas,” Minister Sergii Marchenko said in a release.
It is specified that the second tranche of EUR 100 million is expected in the first quarter of 2024. The funds will be used to finance both recovery activities and support small farms and other agricultural businesses.
The day before, Marchenko said that since the beginning of this year, Ukraine has managed to attract more than $39 billion in external financing, compared to $32.1 billion for the entire last year, and by the end of the year this amount will reach about $42.3 billion. In particular, the EU is expected to receive EUR 1.5 billion of the last tranche of macro-financial assistance this year.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has tripled its grant support under the Competitive Economy of Ukraine program to $11 million, the Ministry of Economy reported on its website on Thursday.
It is noted that the decision was made taking into account the large number of applications and significant interest from processing enterprises.
The increase in funding will also increase the number of grants by about three times, to about 75.
It is specified that the grants will support businesses in the production of innovative products, modernization of production, reduction of manual labor, import substitution and export growth to fill niches previously occupied by Russian and Belarusian products, and localization of production of goods necessary for recovery.
USAID’s Competitive Economy Program supports Ukrainian businesses to improve their competitiveness in Ukraine’s domestic and international markets, helps build a simplified and transparent business climate, and provides Ukrainian companies with opportunities to take advantage of international trade.
Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko has signed a EUR50 million grant agreement with the German state development bank KfW to compensate for the interest rate costs for small and medium-sized businesses under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” the ministry’s press service said on Thursday.
“The funds will be used to refinance the costs of the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program, which will allow small and medium-sized businesses to continue to have access to preferential lending,” Marchenko said and expressed gratitude to the German government for its cooperation and systemic support of Ukraine.
He emphasized that the allocated EUR 50 million will make a significant contribution to the improvement of existing business financial support programs.
The Minister also noted that the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF) is a key institution of affordable financing for Ukrainian business aimed at restoring and developing entrepreneurship under martial law.
“The German government continues to support the Ukrainian side and facilitates further grants,” said Ulrike Hopp-Nishanka, Head of the Headquarters for Ukraine at the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ).
She reminded that last year KfW provided EUR 150 million for the 5-7-9 program.
“These funds are an important component of German-Ukrainian development cooperation, the total amount of which in 2023 alone was more than EUR 600 million,” Hopp-Nishanka said.
A $1.25 billion grant from the United States was transferred to Ukraine’s state budget on Thursday through the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund, the Ministry of Finance reported.
It clarified that the funds are part of the fifth additional financing under the World Bank’s Public Expenditure Support for Enhanced Accountability and Sustainable Governance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) project.
Its goal is to partially compensate for state budget expenditures, including social and humanitarian expenditures not related to security and defense.
In 2023, Ukraine received $9.7 billion in direct budget support from the United States in the form of grants. The funding is used to reimburse state budget expenditures: pension payments, payments to the State Emergency Service, salaries for healthcare workers providing services under the Medical Guarantee Program, civil servants and teachers.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the state budget of Ukraine has already received $21.7 billion from the United States. Financial assistance from the United States is provided on a non-refundable basis, which allows us not to increase the debt burden on the state budget. I am grateful to the US government for its solidarity and large-scale support,” Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko said in a press release.
As reported, the government of Ukraine expects to receive another $3.3 billion from the United States by the end of this year, and $12-14 billion next year, but for this to happen, U.S. lawmakers must approve the relevant federal budgets. Discussions on this issue are still ongoing.
The Ministry of Finance added that together with Deloitte Consulting, which is implementing the USAID SOERA project, it is monitoring the use of direct budget support from the US government, and with the auditing company PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ukraine, it is checking the agreed procedures to determine the allowable public expenditures made by Ukraine in 2022.
In addition, to increase the transparency and accountability of the use of external financing, the Ministry of Finance publishes detailed information on the state budget expenditures of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, which were compensated by foreign partners, in particular the United States, under the World Bank’s PEACE in Ukraine project.
Chanta Mount LLC (Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshgorod district, Kyiv region) has received UAH 8 million in non-refundable grant aid from the state for the New Level processing plant, which will help it resume production of frozen bread, the press service of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine reports.
According to the report, in March 2022, the bakery was damaged by shelling by the Russian occupiers. The bread production line was almost completely destroyed, and the croissant production line was partially destroyed: six shells hit the premises. The damage was estimated at more than EUR 5 million. Before the war, the plant employed 140 people, now it has about 40.
“The bread production line was destroyed by Russian troops with Grad rockets on March 16, 2022. The epicenter of the explosion was in the part where we freeze and pack bread. (…) Only because there was a curfew, our people were not injured. We immediately realized that we could not cope with the recovery alone, so we needed to look for grant opportunities,” the press service quoted the bakery’s director, Elena Taranenko, as saying.
The company’s management has applied for participation in the government’s program of non-refundable grants for processing enterprises from the Ministry of Economy and will receive the maximum amount of UAH 8 million.
“We have to make our contribution of UAH 4 million. The grant money will be used to buy freezing and refrigeration equipment,” said Taranenko.
In addition, to launch the bread production line, it is necessary to equip the packaging department and build a warehouse for finished products. This will require EUR 2 million.
In the spring of 2024, the bakery plans to resume full production and supply frozen bread to ATB, Silpo, Fora, Novus, METRO, Auchan, Epicenter, and Varus supermarkets.
Meanwhile, the croissant production line is reportedly already in operation. The frozen croissants are sold to national retail chains, bakeries, cafes, supermarkets, and for export. So far, up to 1.5-2 tons are baked daily, but the potential capacity is over 400 kg/hour.
The Ministry of Economy reminded that the government’s e-Work project includes grant programs aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and job creation. Microgrants are issued for starting or developing your own business, including processing enterprises, planting a garden, vineyard, or greenhouse. Both existing entrepreneurs and people with no business experience can apply for a grant.
In 2022, Chanta Mount LLC received UAH 26.441 million in revenue, while a year earlier it received UAH 181.4 million, and the loss increased to UAH 94.409 million from UAH 3.1 million in 2021.
According to Opendatabot, Chanta Mount LLC was registered in 2018, and the ultimate beneficiary is Olena Chernysheva. The company’s authorized capital is UAH 23.7 million.
