A regional Made in Ukraine office has been opened in Chernihiv to support micro and small businesses in the region. The ceremony of launching the office took place with the participation of Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

"We understand the challenging conditions in which Ukrainian entrepreneurs operate, especially in the frontline and border regions. Following Sumy, we are opening the second regional Made in Ukraine office in Chernihiv. It will be based at the Chernihiv Regional Employment Centre. Here, small and micro-sized businesses will have access to consultations, assistance in preparing documents for grants and participation in other support programmes. We can see a demand from entrepreneurs for such offices, as it is an opportunity to quickly and in a convenient format not only to receive information but even to submit an application or solve problematic issues personally," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, Made in Ukraine offices are only a minor component of the Government's business support policy. In particular, the Government's priority this year is to stimulate production, attract investment in the real sector and increase non-resource exports. This is especially important in the context of the frontline and de-occupied regions, where business has suffered the most.

"This year, we have budgeted over UAH 45 billion for business support programmes. This is a record amount in recent years. This year, UAH 1.25 billion has been allocated for Chernihiv region. This amount can be increased, as the more actively the region's businesses develop production and apply for support programmes, the more funds they will manage to receive. Our goal, both at the regional and national level, is to change the structure of the economy and increase the share of processing, as there are no examples of successful raw material states in the world," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, this year the Government is implementing a number of business support programmes, including Affordable Loans at 5-7-9, grants for processing with the possibility of receiving up to UAH 8 million for production development, Own Business microgrants and grants for veterans, women veterans, wives and husbands of this category of citizens, and the eOselia mortgage programme. The School Bus programme will continue, and the programme of compensation for the purchase of Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery will be resumed. In addition, the Government has launched a programme to develop the infrastructure of industrial parks, a programme to support projects with significant investments, and others.

Work is also underway to expand localisation to both civilian and military public procurement. Excluding GPA (Agreement on Government Procurement) countries.