First Made in Ukraine office to support micro and small businesses opened in Sumy

Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, opened the first Made in Ukraine office in Sumy to support micro and small businesses. In these offices, entrepreneurs will be able to get advice on the terms of participation in government programmes under the Made in Ukraine policy.

“We understand the difficult conditions Ukrainian entrepreneurs are working in. Especially in the frontline regions, where doing business is disproportionately more difficult than in the rear cities. That is why we chose Sumy as the first city to open the first regional Made in Ukraine office. It will operate on the basis of the Sumy City Employment Centre. Here, entrepreneurs will be able to get face-to-face advice and help with the preparation of documents for grants and other programmes. Our goal is to set up such centres in all Ukrainian cities where it is possible by the end of the year,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, the restoration of Ukraine’s destroyed infrastructure and economy is impossible without the development of Ukrainian business. The main task of the Government’s economic bloc is to stimulate production, attract investments in the real sector and boost non-resource exports.

“Our strategic goal is to change the structure of the economy and increase production of high value-added goods. This is the goal of the Made in Ukraine policy. As part of this policy, we have budgeted over UAH 45 billion for business support programmes. This is a record amount in recent years. One billion hryvnias have been allocated for Sumy region this year, but this amount is not a limit, because the more active local businesses are, the more assistance they will be able to receive from the state,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, this year the Government is implementing a number of programmes to support business. First of all, it is the 5-7-9 soft loan programme. UAH 18 billion has been budgeted for it, which will be used to compensate for interest rates.

Government grant programmes also remain important for small businesses. First of all, grants for processing with an opportunity to receive up to UAH 8 million for production development, including the purchase of equipment. Grants for starting a business and grants for veterans and their spouses are also popular among entrepreneurs.

In addition, the Government is working to expand localisation to both civilian and military public procurement. Excluding GPA countries.

This year, UAH 1 billion is also allocated to compensate for the purchase of Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery. In the second half of the year, this mechanism will be extended to other types of equipment.

The Government continues to fund the school bus programme. The funds currently allocated in the budget will be enough for 500 new Ukrainian-made buses. Another programme that promotes the development of production, primarily of building materials, and helps to restore construction is eOselia. It allows people to purchase housing at 7% per annum, and for privileged categories – at 3%.

In addition, the Government has programmes to support projects with significant investments and a programme to develop industrial parks.