USD 1,000,000 will be allocated to support small and medium-sized businesses of Ukrainian women in the production and processing sector: equipment repair, printing, clothing, furniture, food, pharmaceuticals, computers, optics, etc. The “CREATE!” grant program was presented yesterday, April 24, at the Kyiv School of Economics.

The program was launched by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine with the financial support of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund and implemented by the KSE Foundation. It is realized in partnership with Oschadbank JSC.

“CREATE!” is an important element of the Government's Made in Ukraine policy and the state strategy for gender equality. The initiative is aimed at developing and scaling up national production and increasing the business activity of Ukrainian women. The program's goal is to stimulate economic growth by providing resources and financial support for women to implement their business plans.

“Women are becoming more and more active in business and are increasingly taking leadership. Women fight, heal, create, and lead. Half of new businesses were started by women last year. Every third company was run by a woman. Today, we are launching the “CREATE!” program to increase the number of such new businesses. Businesses that can surprise and inspire. This is an important project for the Ministry of Economy, as it combines two key priorities for us: empowering women in the economy and supporting processing. We have to produce more products with a high share of added value and move away from the raw material model of the economy, because there are no examples of successful raw material states in the world,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

The deadline for applying for the grant program is July 31. Details of the program are available on the website of the Ministry of Economy.