Denys Shmyhal: The State must support small and micro businesses

One of the main challenges facing the Government today is to support businesses in the context of the spread of coronavirus.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal emphasized this at the opening of a regular sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday, April 15.

The Head of Government thanked the MPs for adopting changes to the State Budget, as it would allow to trigger economic recovery and to support the Ukrainians amid the crisis entailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Head of Government noted that one of the current priorities is to render assistance to micro and small businesses.

“Ukrainians cannot lose their jobs. To this end, the Government is working to preserve workplaces. The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance have proposed a number of credit aid programs for small and micro-business, which would be to provide both new loans and refinancing existing credit with zero interest rate with a deferment period. That is actually a so-called repayment holiday that we will be ready to provide,” the Prime Minister said.

According to the PM, the credit program initiated by the President of Ukraine "5-7-9" will become the actual instrument of the implementation of this program.

The Prime Minister stressed that credit programs will help Ukrainian micro- and small businesses withstand the harsh economic conditions during the quarantine. They will also be the key to preserving jobs. After all, the main condition of the loan program is the retention of at least 80% of jobs in small and micro businesses.

Separately, the Head of Government thanked the firefighters and rescuers who, day and night, have been fighting the fires caused by human negligence.

Finally, the Prime Minister urged Ukrainians to stay home on Easter holidays to preserve their own health and life and health of their loved ones.