Financial assistance for small and medium-sized businesses

The Building Livelihoods and Opportunities for Optimised Markets (BLOOM) program focuses on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises that seek to create new jobs and expand their activities with an emphasis on social impact and inclusiveness.

The program aims to provide financial support to small and medium-sized businesses through grants for the purchase of production equipment, renewal of fixed assets, expansion of production capacity, and creation of new jobs. 

Grant recipients can be local or relocated businesses in eight regions of Ukraine affected by the war. The program aims to strengthen community resilience and reduce the population's dependence on cash and in-kind assistance, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. 

Participants who meet all of the following conditions are eligible to participate:

• officially registered business (legal entity or sole proprietorship); 
• micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise operating in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, or Zaporizhzhia regions or relocated to these regions;
• business affected by the war and in need of funds for recovery, reorientation, or expansion of activities; 
• willingness to create or maintain at least three jobs for people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, or the local population;
• willingness to co-finance up to 50% of the project cost with own funds;
• positive business reputation and no complaints about it.

Priority/eligible expenses:

• purchase of production fixed assets (equipment, devices, machine tools, processing machines, etc.);
• upgrading of fixed assets;
• expansion of production capacity;
• creation of new jobs within the business project. 

Expenses that are not financed: 

• rental of premises; 
• employee salaries; 
• marketing services; 
• taxes; 
• bank commissions and services; 
• staff training; 
• licensing and certification.

Activities directly aimed at the following are supported:

• purchase of fixed production assets (equipment, devices, machine tools, processing machines, etc.);
• upgrading and modernization of production facilities; 
• expanding production;
• creating new or preserving existing jobs in communities affected by the war;
• developing inclusive and socially responsible business models in affected regions.

Main stages of implementation and consideration:

• go to the website of the business support competition program (via the BLOOM website or QR code), select Field 2, and register on the website; 
• filling out the online application (contact details, business description, business idea description, items of expenditure covered by the grant and own contribution, cross-cutting issues, additional photos/videos/links);
• proper completion of the application form on the website;
• initial review of the application; 
• telephone interview with the applicant;
• visit to the place of business;
• development of a business plan (at the final stage of selection);
• review of the business plan by an internal committee;
• approval of the application; 
• signing of an agreement on the use of targeted financial assistance; 
• transfer of financial assistance after fulfillment of preliminary conditions; 
• monitoring of the use of financial assistance and evaluation of its effect; 
• reporting on jobs created and business operations. 

The approximate time for processing an application is 6 to 8 weeks, and the time for completing the application is up to 2 hours (with the option to save a draft).

The application procedure is described as follows:

• go to the BLOOM program website (specifically to the Direction 2 page) at bloom.mercycorps.org;
• register on the program website; 
• select “Track 2: Financial Assistance for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses”;
• fill out the online application, which includes:
• general information (business contacts, registration address, etc.);
• business description (field of activity, volume, experience participating in grant programs); 
• a description of the business idea (brief description, planned expenses covered by the grant and own contribution, jobs created/preserved);
• answers to cross-cutting questions about the potential impact of the idea on the community and IDPs; 
• additional photos/videos/links (optional);
• if necessary, take advantage of the opportunity to save a partially completed application and complete it later;
• submit your application via the online form (in particular, via the direct link https://ee.humanitarianresponse.info/x/qu1diOCz);
• wait for the competitive review, phone interview, and further selection stages.

Participants are selected on a competitive basis according to the following criteria:

• a business idea that promises to increase profits and create or preserve jobs;
• a clear justification of the need for financial assistance;
• the social or inclusive impact of the business; 
  experience in running a business and a clear understanding of how to
• implement the idea;
  positive business reputation of the applicant.

Reporting and compliance requirements include:

• collecting documents and signing the agreement;
• fulfilling the grantor's preconditions; 
  reporting on jobs created and business operations (information on employed persons, confirmation of equipment operation, provision of access for monitoring at the place of business); 
• the recipient's obligation to keep records, fully calculate and pay all taxes in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine.