What governmental programs for small and medium-sized businesses are actively working in the Odesa region

Odesa region has several government programs aimed at developing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses. Oleksiy Dmytrenko, deputy Director of the Odesa regional department of economic policy and strategic planning , spoke about their mechanisms and opportunities to receive grants for small and medium-sized businesses at a briefing at the Ukraine-Odesa Media Center.

“Under martial law, the state has created a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs to do business comfortably. After the full-scale invasion began, a number of tax preferences were granted. These include the introduction of a moratorium on tax audits of businesses, and the ability to pay only 2% of their turnover. Group 1 and 2 sole proprietors paid taxes at will, first the excise tax on petroleum products was completely abolished, then it was returned, but the amount was reduced, and VAT on them was reduced from 20% to 7%,” said Oleksiy Dmytrenko.

In addition, the employer was provided with compensation for labor costs for each employed person from among the internally displaced persons at the expense of the state budget reserve fund (up to UAH 6,700 per month for each employed person).

Under the program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%”, the government compensated businesses for part of the loan burden, the official said. According to him, the more jobs a company creates, the more compensation it receives in terms of interest on loans.

The program provides for 2020:

• setting the compensation rate for loans for investment purposes for medium and large enterprises at 9% per annum, with the possibility of reducing it to 7% per annum if new jobs are created;
• Setting the compensation rate for loans for investment purposes for micro and small enterprises at 7% per annum, with the possibility of reducing it to 5% for investment loans;
• Setting a compensation rate of 9% per annum for working capital loans for all companies.

In addition, the Affordable Financial Leasing 5-7-9% program provides for the establishment of compensation for medium and large enterprises. From the beginning of the program until 09.10.2023, the number of loan agreements concluded amounted to more than 4.66 thousand for the amount of UAH 17.3 billion. The share in the total portfolio increased from 5.7% to 7.1%, from 6th to 4th place among the country’s regions.

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