Ukraine has secured an additional $88 million in financing from the World Bank to support state programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine reported.
The funding comes under the “Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship” (RISE) Programme. The Ministry and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) signed an additional loan agreement to allocate these resources to various business support initiatives.
“Signing this additional loan agreement will allow us to direct $88 million toward business support programmes such as affordable loans under the ‘5-7-9’ scheme, grants for processing enterprises, reimbursement programmes for agricultural machinery, and incentives for industrial parks,” said Oleksiy Sobolev, Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
The signing ceremony was attended by Minister Sobolev and Robert Som, World Bank Regional Director for Eastern Europe. The financing is structured as a results-based programme, meaning funds are disbursed based on the achievement of specific targets agreed upon with the World Bank. These include a set number of new business loans issued, an increase in the number of women-led enterprises, and confirmed growth in investments in green technologies.
The Ministry recalled that in November 2024, Ukraine and the World Bank signed three key agreements launching the RISE Programme, which enabled the allocation of $593 million to support SMEs in restoring operations affected by the war. Following the successful achievement of programme indicators last year, $250 million was already channeled into the state budget. For 2025, inflows of $300 million are expected.
Overall, the RISE Programme is expected to provide support to at least 20,000 small and medium enterprises by 2027.
