Today, on 13 September, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution ‘On Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 28 dated 24 January 2020’.

The Government endorsed the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Finance to improve the processes of providing financial state support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which is especially important in the context of a full-scale war. First of all, it concerns the expansion of the state programmes ‘Affordable Loans at 5-7-9%’, ‘Affordable Financial Leasing at 5-7-9%’ and ‘Affordable Factoring’.

The Resolution, in particular, provides for

• the possibility of reducing the interest rate for business by combining state support (programmes 5-7-9) with partnership programmes of authorised banks;
• improvement of the mechanism for providing guarantees to authorised banks by the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF);
• implementation of the World Bank's environmental and social standards when granting loans to agricultural enterprises from 01.12.2024 under the 5-7-9 Programme.

In addition, the Government's decision regulates the implementation of the terms of international cooperation to attract affordable financing for Ukrainian businesses, in particular, with the World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, as well as within the framework of agreements with the IMF to balance support for small and medium-sized businesses with the fiscal capacity of the state.

The State Programme ‘Affordable Loans at 5-7-9%’ is implemented by the EDF, which has entered into cooperation agreements with 46 authorised banks. The only participant of the Fund is the Government of Ukraine represented by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, which coordinates key aspects of its activities.