Main points
- Businesses may be denied grant funding due to debts, errors in documents, or lack of a clear plan for using the funds.
- The Ukrainian government provides microgrants starting at 50 thousand hryvnias, in particular, for young entrepreneurs and those who create jobs.
Why a business may not receive a grant / Photo by Pexels
Grant applications are often submitted with errors, which prevents the system from comparing data and automatically rejects funding. At the same time, entrepreneurs need to clearly and in detail describe the goals and objectives with which the business is applying for the program.
Why are entrepreneurs denied grants?
The Prikhodko&Partners resource discusses the most common mistakes businesses make when submitting grant documents.
Applying for financial support for a business requires attention to detail and thorough preparation. Businesses are most often rejected due to the following errors and inaccuracies:
- business reputation – if a business has debts to the state or a bad credit history, then the chances of obtaining this type of financing are significantly reduced.
- problems with documents – even minor/mechanical errors in registration documents can lead to denial of funding, in particular, expired passports. Since the system checks the documents at the initial stage, it will not automatically consider everything if it finds at least one error at the beginning in the spelling of the surname.
- a plan for fulfilling the conditions of the grant – if the package of documents does not contain a clear plan for how the business will fulfill the conditions to which it subscribes.
- SMART project objectives – if specific criteria for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound are not specified, then grantors will not see a clear understanding from the business why the entrepreneur needs the money and how he will use it in his field.
- detailed use of grant funds – in such plans, it is necessary to describe literally “down to the penny” where and for what the received funds will go, otherwise, donors will not be able to provide funding because they will not understand what exactly it will be used for.
- description of the target audience – if the target audience is described not according to the grantor's requirements or if not all information is provided.
- Marketing plan – without understanding how the target audience will find the enterprise and how the business should work on it, the chances of receiving a grant decrease, because if there are no customers, there is no point in financing such a business.
- Cost compliance – you cannot write a financing plan “by eye”, there must be accurate and clear calculations.
- project goals – if you do not specify the purpose for which the business is applying for a grant.
- preparation of documents and tables – if errors are made in documents or tables are not completely filled out.
Please note! The vast majority of grants have clear requirements for submitting documents and funding rules. Since grantors explain everything in detail, they require relevant documents and applications submitted by the business.
Yes, even one mistake or a different letter in the surname will really be a reason for rejection. Therefore, before applying for a grant, you need to carefully study all the requirements of the program, its conditions, and application evaluation criteria.
What kind of grant can you get from the state?
The Employment Service website explains that the Ukrainian government has been supporting business since 2022. Thus, the state provides microgrants according to the entrepreneur's request.
Please note! The grant amount cannot be less than 50 thousand hryvnias.
Yes, you can get for your own business:
- 100 thousand hryvnias – subject to registration as an entrepreneur;
- 200 thousand hryvnias – if the business creates 1 job;
- 350 thousand hryvnias – if the enterprise provides at least 2 jobs.
In particular, there are certain features depending on the field of activity and the age of the entrepreneurs. For example, funding recipients aged 18-25 are entitled to a microgrant of 200 thousand hryvnias, provided that they register as an individual entrepreneur.
If the grant is received by an entrepreneur who plans to operate in the field of preschool education or the creative industry, he will be provided with funding of up to 1 million hryvnia.
Also, microgrants of 500 thousand hryvnias or more are provided subject to co-financing and at least 12 months of work experience in the relevant field. Regarding co-financing, the grant recipient must cover at least 30% of the project cost.
What else do you need to know about doing business in Ukraine?
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After tax audits, it turned out that well-known jewelry chains were operating through a “business splitting” scheme on individual entrepreneurs. Now, two companies have received fines of 70 million hryvnias for violations.
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In particular, for Channel 24, Oleg Getman explained that the problem with such a scheme is not only that the business is divided into a number of smaller individual entrepreneurs. The main complication is that the formed individual entrepreneurs do not issue fiscal checks. That is, they do not show their real turnover.