The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine has kicked off a work with Regional State Administrations (RSAs) on introduction  of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurship until 2020 (SME 2020 Strategy). Thus, the Ministry  together with the RSAs will create a regional network of Centers for entrepreneurship support.

 "It is important to transform the outcomes of the work with international technical assistance projects  into important tools of state policy, since many projects in the field of entrepreneurship development are still being financed by international donors. It is of paramount importance to have feedback with the regions on the needs of small businesses, which will be the key to taking effective decisions in this direction", First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov stressed.

Priority projects for the implementation of the SME 2020 Strategy should be, in particular:

• creation of an information portal for entrepreneurs on the basis of the official website of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade;

• Implementation of a pilot project on the introduction of a mechanism for partial credit guarantees;

• Implementation of a pilot project on the creation of a network of business support centers.

During the meeting, the representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Regional State Administrations reached agreement on the start of the implementation of the pilot project on the creation of a regional network of centers of support for entrepreneurship in Ukraine, which should become a link of the state support infrastructure for micro, small business and potential entrepreneurs, including socially vulnerable groups (ATO veterans, internally displaced persons, youth).