Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal spoke to business representatives about the economy, financial stability, energy, logistics, staff reservations and support programmes during the Kyiv International Economic Forum held on 7 November.

In particular, the Head of Government stressed the importance of macro-financial stability and assured that the state had a clear understanding of how to cover the budget deficit in 2025.

“We are continuing the programme with the IMF and we have the Ukraine Facility with the European Union. We will receive USD 50 billion from the G7 and the EU from the use of frozen russian assets. The country will have the funds to finance the army and all priority budget expenditures,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Denys Shmyhal, the situation in the energy sector is now under control, all necessary repairs have been carried out and energy facilities have been protected. In his opinion, the outcome of the winter depends primarily on the intensity of russian attacks on the energy system.

“We are preparing in all possible ways. We agreed to increase the physical volume of electricity imports from 1.7 to 2.1 GW. We also agreed on an additional amount of so-called emergency support. We continue to develop distributed generation. Government support programmes are available for businesses to install alternative energy sources. We have a sufficient supply of various equipment, enough gas in our storage facilities and enough coal in our warehouses,” the Head of Government noted.

The Prime Minister also reminded that businesses could import electricity to protect themselves from potential blackouts in winter.

One of the issues raised by Denys Shmyhal during the forum was logistics. He noted that the Government had managed to partially solve the problem caused by the russian invasion.

“The Ukrainian sea corridor is working, the Danube ports are working. We are investing in the railway and border crossing points. We managed to extend both trade and transport ‘visa-free regimes’ with the European Union. Our task for the next year is to ensure that Ukrainian goods continue to be imported into the EU without quotas and duties. Our carriers should not need any licences for freight transport,” the Prime Minister stressed.

According to Denys Shmyhal, the European Commission’s report on the progress of reforms and the implementation of EU directives gave the customs reform one of the highest praises. He expressed his belief that in 2025 Ukrainians would see the results of these transformations in a tangible way.

In addition, the Prime Minister stressed that a fair and transparent staff reservation system remained one of the most important issues for businesses. According to him, it is necessary to find a balance between a working economy and the needs of the Defence Forces. It is important to ensure that key professionals can work and that frontline defenders get the rotation they need.

“The list of critical enterprises must be audited by 15 November. While this audit is ongoing, those whose reservations are about to expire and who were reserved before 31 May this year can extend their reservations. Based on the results of the audit, updated rules will be presented, which should provide this necessary balance,” said Denys Shmyhal.

The Head of Government also discussed economic policy with businesses. He recalled that this year the state had fully launched the Made in Ukraine project with various support programmes.

“We are already approaching the milestone of 100 industrial parks for the processing industry. This year, we started compensating for their development. For the first time, we have budgeted funds and are ready to reimburse the cost of connection to the power grid and other expenses set by law. This practice will continue next year,” the Prime Minister said.

The Government also continues digitalisation and regulation to simplify interaction with the state, in particular through the eEntrepreneur and eDozvil products, and continues to issue grants under the eRobota programme to start and develop new Ukrainian enterprises – more than 20,000 new businesses have been created and restarted thanks to this programme.

“Concessional loans for new investments under the 5-7-9 programme will also continue. Since the beginning of this year alone, we have issued more than 20,000 concessional loans,” said Denys Shmyhal.

The Prime Minister also reminded about the compensation for the purchase of Ukrainian products, the National Cashback programme, compensation for the purchase of Ukrainian agricultural machinery and Ukrainian energy products. According to him, the programme of 25% reimbursement for Ukrainian agricultural machinery has proved to be extremely positive.

“Accordingly, we will extend it to other high-tech products manufactured by Ukrainian producers. All this is done to ensure that the number of Ukrainian businesses of different levels and sizes increases. We want to create jobs and change the structure of our economy from a raw material-based to a processing one. We want Ukrainians to buy as many Ukrainian products as possible,” the Prime Minister concluded.