Together we are resilient: European Union supports Ukraine’s small and medium-sized enterprises during the full-scale Russian war

Within ‘Together we are resilient. Together we are Europe’ communication campaign focusing on the European Union’s support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine, a media tour for leading national and local media outlets was held in Bucha and Zhytomyr. The media tour’s keynote theme was promoting clusters and supporting local community development initiatives.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression, EU support has been redirected to help Ukrainian SME deal with the significant new challenges – from retaining production capabilities, to business relocation, adaptation to limited technology options, workforce shortages, and loss of marketing and partnership opportunities.

On the other hand, Ukraine’s candidate country status is creating a new positive momentum for Ukraine’s economy and the EU is helping the country benefit from it.

Katarína Mathernová, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, commented: “Small and Medium sized enterprises are the cornerstone of the European Union’s Single Market and the fundament for a successful Ukrainian economy. This is why the European Union keeps supporting Ukraine’s SMEs. Since the very first days of the full-scale Russian aggression, we have redirected our assistance to provide urgent support to them. At the same time, we support Ukraine’s further integration into the EU Single Market.”

Media tour participants explored specific cases of SME projects implemented with the support of the European Union. In Bucha, they visited the Diia.Business Centre, where they learned about EU-supported SME assistance tools and met local entrepreneurs who have benefitted from the Centre’s services and programmes (grants, consultations, trainings, mentoring sessions.), as well as the Boulangerie bakery opened by a family relocated from Severodonetsk.

In Zhytomyr, where the first regional clusters are being created, journalists attended a media briefing led by local authorities and took part in a regional panel discussion on the outcomes and prospects of European Union’s support for Ukrainian SMEs in recovery and strengthening local communities.

Representatives of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, EU experts, local businesses, in particular, local clusters that have already benefitted from EU support, took part in the regional panel discussion held at the Zhytomyr Polytechnic. Their peers from Vinnytsia and Lviv also joined the discussion online.

This media tour was preceded by a foresight session ‘Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Process of European Integration: Scenarios and Strategies’. Its deliverables were presented at the II International Export Forum.

The European Research and Innovation Days under the EU-funded ‘New Economy of Ivano-Frankivsk’ project (NEF) were also held. Hagen Ettner, International Cooperation Programme Director ‘EU4Business: SME Recovery, Competitiveness and Internationalisation’ funded jointly by the European Union and the Government of Germany and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, “SMEs are not a supplement to the national economy, they are the backbone of Ukraine’s economy. Each enterprise contributes to value chains.

Companies order goods and services from other companies to manufacture, distribute and deliver their products to their ultimate consumers. Businesses also pay taxes, and this is the foundation for the functioning of the state. They create jobs and generate revenue for the people. In turn, employees and their families spend money to pay for goods and services. This is how economic cycles are built. The EU4Business mission is to strengthen these cycles and help Ukraine’s small and medium-sized enterprises survive, recover, innovate and grow.”

For more information on EU support for SMEs: eu4ukraine.eu and eu4business.org.ua

Learn more about the communication campaign activities by following the EU Delegation to Ukraine on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.

Media contact: Tetiana Voronina, Media Expert, ‘Communicating the European Union for Ukrainians’ (CEU4U), an EU-funded project implemented by Ecorys, tvoronina9@gmail.com, +38 067 501 11 83