HONORARY CONSUL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA IN KHARKIV

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Albania attended a business meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Albania in Kharkov Shahin Omarov attended the business meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with the heads of small and medium enterprises of the Kharkiv region. The name of the meeting was "Grants EBRD for SME: how to get them." During the event programs of grant support for small and medium-sized businesses were presented. The meeting was also attended by Sevki Ajuner, EBRD Director in Ukraine, Catherine Rigg, Head of the EBRD to support small businesses in Ukraine, Marina Ismail, head of the regional areas of the financial development of small and medium-sized businesses EBRD in Ukraine. During the event the examples of cooperation between small and medium-sized businesses with the EBRD were shown.

For reference: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (www.ebrd.com), whose owners are 64 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, is supporting the development of market economy and democracy.

Grant support to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine EBRD is providing since 2010. As part of the grant support the EBRD is helping SMEs to attract highly qualified consultants, who can transform the quality of their business, and provides grants to partially offset the consultants.

In five years, the EBRD has provided grant support to 460 small and medium enterprises in Ukraine worth more than 7.5 million Euro. Financing is secured by the European Union.

Project results a year after their completion: 71% of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises have increased their income by 41%; 53% - increased the number of employees by 10%.