Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) has started the project Business Revitalisation in Ukraine, the result of which will be a study of SMEs’ sectoral changes since the beginning of the full-scale Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This project was funded with UK Aid from the UK Government.

As the first stage of the project, Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) prepared a preliminary Small and Mid-Size Enterprises (hereinafter, SMEs) sector overview in the context of the Russian aggression and presented it to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the project beneficiary of the project. Further the efforts of the team will be directed on analysis of business activity in Ukraine, foreign trade operations and opportunities, analysis of dynamics of the quantity of enterprises that ceased their activity at the beginning of the war and those that managed to restore the activity, direct losses in the SME sector, loss of labor. One of the challenges is finding tools to help support companies and jobs.

Project goals:

• Investigate the SMEs’ sectoral changes since the beginning of the war (the number of closed enterprises and those that have resumed operations; correlations of sectoral analysis and general damages in the sector);

• Analyze international economic recovery practices with a focus on successful practices, regulation and tools for SMEs;

• Develop recommendations for the recovery of SMEs, job preservation and adaptation/improvement of employees’ skills in the conditions of changes in the market conjuncture of military and post-military times;

• Offer support tools for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs that will be effective and feasible during and after the war;

• Develop a set of measures to work with temporarily displaced persons, including abroad;

• Develop a strategy for the development of SMEs during and after the war;

• Support the development of the Diia.Business network of centers.

As KSE Institute experts state, Ukrainian business continues to maintain its economic front: entrepreneurs are working, refocusing on military needs and providing humanitarian aid. However, not all companies, especially SMEs, had a sufficient margin of safety at the time of the start of the war.

Broken business processes, supply and sales chains, lack of financial reserves and access to them actualizes immediate adaptation to new market conditions and significant changes within SMEs.

The goal of the project is to understand the real state of business in the country and to develop tools for its support that will be commensurate with today’s challenges.

The results of the project will be presented in October 2022.

This event is one of the activities under the UA2007-01 (Phase 1) Project: Business Revitalisation in Ukraine, which is supported by the British Embassy Kyiv. The project delivery partner is Kyiv School of Economics.