Support for small businesses: The state issues more than 2000 microgrants worth half a billion hryvnias

Ukraine provides more than 2,000 microgrants for business development through the "Own Business" program. The government is allocating more than half a billion hryvnias for this initiative, which will be used by entrepreneurs to start or expand their businesses.

This was reported by the Ministry of Economy, indicating that the support is provided under the grant program "Own Business", which has gained popularity among Ukrainians. It is expected that more than 5,000 new jobs will be created through these grants.

Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna said that 2,249 Ukrainians have been selected as winners of this stage of the program and will receive UAH 535.6 million. In total, since the launch of the program in July 2022, more than 13,000 Ukrainians will receive microgrants worth UAH 3 billion.

Tetyana Berezhna noted that more than 75% of the grantees have already received funds and are able to invest them in their business projects. The representative of the Ministry of Economy believes that this will help stimulate the opening of new businesses and the expansion of existing enterprises.

According to the program, 60% of microgrant recipients are women and 40% are men. It is also noted that 75% have higher education. The leaders in terms of the number of grants received were Lviv region (277 people), Kyiv region (206 people), and Kyiv (196 people).

The most popular industries for business development among the winners are wholesale and retail trade, vehicle repair (734 people), temporary accommodation and catering (399 people), and manufacturing (316 people).

The Own Business program is part of the government's eRobota project, launched in July 2022. Both an existing entrepreneur and a person with no experience in entrepreneurship can receive a grant, and a prerequisite is the creation of 1-2 jobs, depending on the amount of the grant. Ukrainians who received microgrants in 2022 have already created about 8,000 new jobs.

It is projected that in 2024, UAH 3.5 billion will be allocated for the program, which will allow for 14,000 grants and further development of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine.