With Oschad's partnership, more than 19,000 entrepreneurs received UAH 4.7 billion under the eRobota program “Own Business”

Over the past two years, more than 19 thousand entrepreneurs have realized their dreams by participating in the microgrant program “Vlasna Sprava” (“Own Business”) - one of the components of the eRobota state initiative to support business. Thanks to the grants awarded to the winners, 38,000 jobs will be created and more than UAH 2.6 billion in taxes will be paid to the state budget.

According to statistics, about 30% of grant applicants are individuals with little or no business experience, for whom this grant program is the only way to raise funding to start their own business. It is worth noting that 57% of the entrepreneurs who received grants are women, while men make up 43%. The leading regions among the winners are Kyiv (17%), Lviv (14%), and Rivne (8%). The most popular types of business were wholesale and retail trade, vehicle repair, and catering (bakeries, cafes, and restaurants).

The second area of the program is grants for the creation or development of veteran-owned businesses, which has been in place since April 2023. As a result, more than a thousand businesses have received UAH 480 million, which has created 2,000 jobs and contributed more than UAH 17 million in taxes to the state budget. Kyiv and Kyiv region (18%), Lviv (16%), and Vinnytsia (7%) regions are leading the way. The gender distribution is 55% men and 45% women, respectively. These are combatants, veterans, and spouses of veterans.

“The areas of eRobota “Own Business” and support for veteran businesses have not only an economic but also an important social function. More than 19,000 entrepreneurs who have received government grants are a huge number of realized dreams, as well as many families who did not wait for help from the state but took their economic future into their own hands. I thank the partners in the program implementation, namely the Ministries of Economy and Digital Transformation, as well as representatives of the State Employment Service, for their trust in Oschadbank. We are ready to continue to help both government agencies and international partners implement grant programs to support the Ukrainian economy,” said Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska, Oschadbank Management Board Member in charge of micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Oschadbank is the exclusive banking partner of eRobota. Its role is to verify the business reputation of applicants, open accounts to which grants are credited, and monitor the intended use of the funds received. 

At the event marking the second anniversary of the program, it was announced that the next phase of the program will see significant and important changes, including

• support for young people: Ukrainians under the age of 25 can receive up to UAH 150 thousand without creating additional jobs, provided they register as a sole proprietor;
• support for frontline areas: twice the amount of the grant (up to UAH 500 thousand) for residents of Kharkiv region and the opportunity to receive grant support for residents of active combat areas;
• the amount of the grant for the spouse of a fallen combatant to start or develop a business was increased to UAH 500 thousand;
• the possibility of using grant funds in the production of Ukrainian wine and for aquaculture and lease of water bodies for the development of fisheries was added.

For more information or to get a manager's advice on how to participate in the grant program, please visit Oschadbank's website or call 0800219800 (calls within Ukraine are free) and 0443630103 (according to operator tariffs).