Simplification of reporting and access to business-related information via an online resource – these are the major steps Ukrainian business expects most from the government. Enterprise managers named these measures in response to a question in the survey conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting about what help they need from the government. Considerably fewer firms said they needed direct government support, such as lending or participation in public-private partnerships.
The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting surveyed 329 managers of industrial enterprises in 10 regions of Ukraine in the second quarter of 2015. The surveyed companies represent diverse industries: heavy industry, machinery, construction materials production, food processing, light industry, and others.
Speaking about preferred instruments of state support, 69% of managers said that they need an online resource where they would be able to find information about the terms and regulations regarding doing business and about changes in legislation. 59% believe that support from the state should entail cutting down the number of the documents required for business operations, and 43.6% of enterprise managers think that government can support them by transferring administrative services into electronic form.
Measures of direct state support are not a priority for the industrial sector. Specifically, 36.4% of enterprises expect government help in loans financing, and only 10.1% of enterprises expect to be included into public-private partnerships. Additionally, 34.5% of the respondents said that they would like the government to facilitate access to public procurement for small businesses.
This suggests that Ukrainian business primarily requires favorable general environment. Simplifying the conditions for doing business and providing access to the necessary information is more important for industrial firms than specific measures of state support. Additional assistance from the government will be on the agenda for business only after the basic steps to improve the business environment have been taken.
These and other results of the survey are presented in the special report "State Support for Small and Medium Businesses" (in Ukrainian). The report was published as a part of the USAID “Leadership in Economic Governance" (LEV) program and was presented at the parliamentary hearing "Development of Business in Ukraine and Support for Small and Medium Enterprises" that was held on September 30, 2015.
The full report is only available in Ukrainian