The funding will be provided under a grant to support processing enterprises implemented by the USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. Given the large number of applications and significant interest from processing companies, it was decided to increase the amount of grant funding.

The total financing of the grant program to support the innovative transformation and development of Ukrainian enterprises will amount to USD 11 million, and about 75 grants will be awarded under the program (previously, about 25 grants were planned).

"The development of Ukrainian producers and attracting investment in the real sector is a priority for the Ministry of Economy. Our strategy is to process and develop high-tech industries. We need to increase the share of processing in the GDP structure from the current 10% to at least 20%, as there are no examples of successful raw material states. Raw materials are often synonymous with poverty," said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy.

In particular, the grants will support businesses in activities that contribute to the production of innovative products, modernization of production, reduction of manual human labour combined with the creation of more highly skilled jobs, increased efficiency in the use of other resources, import substitution in the Ukrainian market and/or export and/or export of Ukrainian products to fill the niches previously occupied by russian and belarusian products, as well as localization of the production of goods needed for reconstruction.

More details are available here: https://chemonics.submittable.com/submit.

Background information

The USAID Competitive Economy Program supports Ukrainian businesses to improve their competitiveness in Ukraine's domestic and international markets, helps build a simplified and transparent business climate, and provides Ukrainian companies with opportunities to take advantage of international trade."