More Than 65 Seminars and Four Workshops: Helping Businesses and Communities in the Kharkiv Region
An intensive training programme for entrepreneurs and local-government leaders in the Chuhuiv and Chkalov communities of the Kharkiv region has helped businesses identify new opportunities and local authorities take the first steps towards establishing business-support centres.
Learning, networking and new partnerships
Over three months, the Bureau of Investment Programs held seminars for local entrepreneurs and municipal officials. Specialists in finance, marketing, sales, project management and human resources shared practical tools for developing businesses in the uncertainty of wartime. The team and participants worked through power outages and shelling together.
Valentyna Volotskova, Head of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at Chuhuiv City Council, said the programme helped local businesses see that raising additional finance for growth was possible. It also gave participants renewed momentum to develop their businesses and their communities.
One participant was a veteran who decided to start a business after returning from the front. Another was a wheelchair user who turned his rehabilitation after a spinal injury into an entrepreneurial venture. The training helped him understand how to market the products of his small woodworking business.
Participants said the seminars and workshops taught them to use marketing tools more effectively and develop convincing business plans and grant applications. Just as importantly, they met potential partners; some have already begun exploring ideas for joint ventures.
Business conversations over coffee
Despite frequent shelling in both communities, BIP organised two workshops with local officials at a safe venue. Chuhuiv Mayor Halyna Minaieva joined a meeting with local entrepreneurs, while Serhii Kotenko, Head of the Chkalov community, attended a business breakfast with local government.
Entrepreneurs welcomed the informal format, which allowed them to raise concerns directly with decision-makers and receive immediate responses. Minaieva said the training programme and workshops offered local businesses practical opportunities to expand and develop new services.
Two further workshops in Poltava brought entrepreneurs and local-government representatives together with trainers and facilitators. The sessions focused on writing stronger grant applications, improving the local business environment and making both companies and communities more attractive to investors.
An investment profile for the community
The programme went beyond training. BIP experts also worked on real community-development projects, preparing an investment profile for the Chkalov community to help it present its opportunities to prospective investors.
“The war will end, and these two communities will be home to outstanding opportunities, investors and projects,” said Oleksandra Humenna, a speaker and expert on the programme.
UAH 5 million in equipment for local businesses
As part of the programme, entrepreneurs in the Chuhuiv and Chkalov communities applied for grants to purchase equipment. Following a competitive selection process, 21 entrepreneurs were chosen to receive equipment worth a combined UAH 5 million at no cost.
Procurement and delivery were expected to take around two and a half months, depending on supplier schedules, logistics and paperwork. The equipment, including generators, will help these businesses continue operating and expand.
For many small and microbusinesses, grants remain one of the few accessible sources of development finance. Commercial borrowing is often too expensive or out of reach, while Ukraine’s 5–7–9 affordable-loan programme also has eligibility requirements and lending limits.