Head of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) Andriy Kolodiuk has proposed to redistribute UAH 50 million foreseen in the national budget for 2018 for startups for the establishment of a fund for 1,000 Ukrainian startups' funds. This would allow attracting investment of $500 million.

"The draft budget for 2018 announces UAH 50 million for the creation of the fund of startups. Our association had another proposal - that the state should become a co-investor in the fund of funds, which would invest not in startups, but in 25 existing funds. It is hard for them now to attract investment due to high risks ... It was about UAH 260 million from the national budget, which would help attracting half a billion U.S. dollars to domestic startups," he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the Innovation Market Chinese-Ukrainian exhibition in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Kolodiuk said that the fund of funds allowed the state to support startups with the rights of a co-investor.

"At a meeting Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman promised us this and gave the instructions to the Finance Ministry. However, this idea was not reflected in the draft national budget," Kolodiuk said.

"According to our data for the last year, average investment into a Ukrainian startup reached $50,000. Thus, investments in 1,000 startups would have allowed attracting investment of $500 million," he said.