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Many companies located close to the Russian border have been suffering daily from shelling and damages. Bakyrivske LLC is one of them. For 25 years, the company has been cultivating grain and oilseed crops, as well as breeding pigs. One night in March 2022 changed all the plans and expectations of a successful family business, when six bombs of the enemy air attack completely destroyed their workshop, warehouses, machinery, facilities and livestock.

Ihor Hurbanov, the owner of Bakyrivske LLC, recalls that terrible shelling and the devastation it caused. In particular, he lost 300 tonnes of sunflower, 400 tonnes of corn, 100 tonnes of barley, 100 pigs and more than 20 pieces of machinery and equipment, including a new harvester. However, the farmer did not give up and, after deoccupation, managed to restore his business with the help of committed friends, colleagues and clients and support by the European partners.

The company applied for funding under the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line and received an €88,699 loan via the facility’s partner bank, Credit Agricole Bank. They invested in purchasing a modern harvester New Holland CX6.90 that combines a wide range of advanced systems and features designed to boost performance and harvesting quality in demanding field conditions. The modernisation allowed the company to achieve energy savings of 279 GJ and carbon emission reduction of nearly 21 t CO₂ annually.

Ihor says that the adjustment range of this machinery makes it easy to deliver clean, undamaged grain and straw quality meeting customer demands. “The harvester is very efficient, it significantly reduces the operator’s workload due to the automated functions and ensures higher safety and level of comfort”, the business owner underlines.

Participation in the Programme helped the farmer save on investment costs thanks to the increased amount of the incentive. In addition to the basic 10 per cent incentive, Bakyrivske LLC received a 15 per cent grant from the EU under the Enterprise Renaissance Window (ERW), bringing the total investment incentive to 25 per cent of the loan amount.

Companies in the Kharkiv region have faced numerous threats since the Russian invasion, including destruction of buildings, damages to equipment, resource shortages, logistical difficulties, and loss of employees and clients. Many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises had to relocate to safer regions and search for new business opportunities.

Techno-Druk LLC, which has been producing high-quality labels for various food products, beverages, and household chemicals for over 8 years, is one of those companies. Due to the hostilities, the company had to suspend its activities for several months in 2022. Striving to restore its operations, Techno-Druk relocated its production facilities and employees to Zakarpattia. Today, employees include the evacuated Kharkivit residents, as well as locals and internally displaced persons from other regions.

Techno-Druk has been successful at overcoming many of the challenges it faced, restoring, developing and scaling up its business at the new location. The efforts were partly financed with an EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line loan from Ukrgasbank. The company benefitted from the EU-funded investment incentive available under the credit line. Moreover, the company became one of the first in Ukraine to apply for the new additional investment incentive under the credit line’s Enterprise Renaissance Window, which was specifically designed to help Ukrainian companies survive, recover and strengthen the Ukrainian economy.

With the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line loan, Techno-Druk LLC purchased modern printing equipment. The combined total of an EU-funded grant tied to this investment amounts to 30 per cent of the loan amount, significantly reducing the company’s investment costs and stimulating its production.

According to Albina Kudryavtseva, the owner of Techno-Druk LLC, the enterprise has fully switched from survival to active development mode. It plans to expand and further improve its production processes to access European markets. “Participation in the “Enterprise Renaissance Window” (ERW) initiative helps us create new jobs, strengthen the company’s competitiveness, increase our export capacity and deepen the economic partnership with the EU countries. This is our contribution to building the economic resilience that helps defending our country,” notes Ms. Kudryavtseva.