Ukraine's Economic Development and Trade Ministry has created the SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) Development Office using funds of the European Union (EU) under the FORBIZ project and the EU4Business initiative, the ministry reported last week.

According to a report on the ministry's website, following the results of work in 2018–2019, the Office should launch a network of business support centers at the regional and local levels, create a program for training and financial support for startups, and introduce a partial credit guarantee mechanism.

"Under this mechanism, entrepreneurs who do not have enough collateral but can confirm that there is a sufficient level of working capital to repay the loan will be able to count on partial guarantee of their loans from the German-Ukrainian Fund, which is a partner of the project to introduce the mechanism," the ministry said.

At the same time, the Office should create a public information portal for SMEs with information on financial and educational support programs and other services and business assistance, the ministry said.

Currently, the office has nine employees and will be coordinated by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksym Nefyodov.

At first, the Office will work as a consultative and advisory body, which should later become a public agency, the ministry said.