Kyiv, 26 October 2022 – Micro- small and medium-sized enterprises provide a lifeline for people worldwide. Categorized as employing more than seven million people and generating about 70 per cent of value-added in Ukraine, these businesses provide the products and services that people need to survive – especially in wartime. This is why serving this community and ensuring businesses stay in business is a priority for the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine.  

With the financial support of the European Union and local partners such as the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Chambers of Commerce and Industry, UNDP recently established crisis management platforms for local entrepreneurs, supported by Agency for the Regional Development of Eastern Donbas, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The platforms – a series of online webinars and consultations for SMSEs – were designed to promptly and expertly respond to the requests and needs of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in conditions of uncertainty and turbulence. 

Xavier Camus, acting Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said that for war-torn communities to survive, it is necessary to offer business tools and mechanisms to quickly and expertly respond to the needs of local entrepreneurs. "The impact of the war on business is devastating," he said. "We actively support programmes to promote the economic recovery of Ukraine and will continue to focus our efforts on strengthening the activities of the private sector as a vital pillar of Ukraine's resilience." 

Manal Fouani, interim UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said UNDP is making every effort to provide displaced businesses from eastern and southern Ukraine with opportunities to restore and increase their capacity and efficiency. "Businesses today face many challenges related to staff retention, profit retention, cost reduction, risk management, responding to opportunities and preparing for the future," she said. "Through our strategic partnership with the European Union and others, we are working with the Government to create and ensure an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to remain resilient despite temporarily limited financial support, constant shocks and other significant challenges."

The crisis management platform included many webinars covering a wide range of topics, including those related to tax changes introduced in Ukrainian legislation to support the economy, legal advice on force majeure circumstances, labour relations in wartime, the challenges of logistics, export and import, and how to restructure supply chains. For many entrepreneurs, the crisis management platform has become a place where participants receive emotional support and motivation to start or continue entrepreneurial activities despite numerous overwhelming obstacles.

More than 500 Ukrainians recently participated in online webinars on the three platforms to learn how they can overcome the many challenges of starting, restoring and scaling a business in wartime. Most participants were from established businesses trying to adjust their operations, those that have recently been founded and entrepreneurs who plan to start a new business under martial law conditions.

The crisis management platforms were organised by UNDP in partnership with the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the NGO "Agency for the Regional Development of Eastern Donbas" within the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the European Union.

Media enquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org