Norwegian Refugee Council to provide financial assistance to relocated businesses

The Ukrainian Economy Ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Norwegian Refugee Council regarding the provision of financial assistance to relocated enterprises.

That's according to the ministry's press service, Ukrinform reports.

"Due to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, businesses were forced to relocate from regions where active hostilities are taking place to safer ones. To date, 800 enterprises have been relocated with the support of the state, with 80% of them already operating at their new locations. The memorandum of understanding signed with the Norwegian Refugee Council will allow providing additional assistance, particularly financial assistance, to such enterprises so that they can quickly adapt and increase production capacity in new regions," said Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The memorandum envisages that the Ukrainian Economy Ministry will provide the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) with information on relocated businesses, and the NRC will then independently select the businesses for providing financial and other types of assistance. The primary selection criteria include the relocation of a company to the Lviv or Ternopil regions, clear business ideas and the potential to create jobs, especially among young people, women and persons with disabilities.

As part of the memorandum, NRC plans to provide direct assistance to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises for 12 months.