At a meeting on December 27, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to focus the provision of financial state support under the "5-7-9%" program exclusively on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. This was announced by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday, December 28.
Such changes are provided for by the updated procedures for the implementation of the programs "Affordable Loans 5-7-9%", "Affordable Financial Leasing 5-7-9%" and "Affordable Factoring".
The exclusion of large companies from the programs is stipulated by agreements with the International Monetary Fund. "The Ministry of Finance has initiated the gradual cancellation of the right of large companies to receive assistance under this program," the latest memorandum with the IMF says.
According to the second review of the IMF program, the structural beacon "Development of a concept note on the 5-7-9% program with proposals to target small and medium-sized enterprises, gradually eliminating the participation of large companies, strengthening monitoring and maintaining adequate safeguards" was not completed on time. The new deadline for it is by the end of March 2024.
At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers lifted restrictions on participation in programs for entrepreneurs:
- those who have re-registered to the government-controlled territory of Ukraine but are unable to relocate their business, but who fulfill their obligations under loan agreements and pay taxes, fees and mandatory payments to the state budget of Ukraine;
- those registered, in particular, in the territories of Kherson (including Kherson), Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions, for which the date of the end of hostilities and temporary occupation has already been determined, but the date has not yet been included in the list of territories of active hostilities where state electronic information resources operate
It should be noted that "5-7-9" is a government loan program. Its essence lies in the fact that the state compensates banks from the budget for part of the interest on loans they issue to businesses.
