During a working visit to Odesa region on 16 August, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev met with the leadership of the Odesa Military Administration and representatives of small and medium-sized businesses to discuss the main challenges faced by Odesa region in the context of a full-scale invasion and forecasts for the region’s economic development, as well as the energy and security situation, critical needs of the region on the eve of winter.
EU representatives joined the meeting with the businesses to learn about the specifics of the grain corridor and the situation at the ports. Particular attention was paid to promising areas for attracting investment in the region – energy, transport, agriculture and IT. The participants also discussed financing programmes for companies from the state and international partners, including those available under the Ukraine Facility investment programme.
“The Government is grateful to the entrepreneurs who continue to work in the face of war and make efforts to restore the country. For its part, the government, with the help of international partners and donors, offers business support programmes, including many grant programmes, as well as many opportunities to attract investment in business through the EUR 9.3 billion Ukraine Facility. In addition, businesses are looking forward to the adoption of the SME Recovery Strategy until 2027, which aims to address the pressing problems of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. With the coordination and support of representatives of different countries and financial institutions united in the SME Resilience Alliance, the document will be adopted in the near future,” said Oleksii Sobolev.
Funds under the EU investment programme can be allocated to projects in such sectors as energy, transport, IT, industry, green transformation, agriculture and municipal projects.
Ukrainian private and state-owned companies can receive funding through IFIs directly (EBRD, EIB, KfW, AFD, BGK (IFC) and other international financial institutions), and through Ukrainian banks.