Kyiv, 7 April 2020 – The UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme has officially announced the launch of the educational online platform “Start a business” developed with the financial support of the government of Poland. The platform will come at handy for entry-level businessmen and businesswomen who have only started exploring the basics of entrepreneurship, but it will also be of use to those who already have businesses and are looking for useful advice for developing them.

In informative videos, successful entrepreneurs share their experiences of how to start a business, where to look for funding, how to attract investment, how a creative approach can multiply your earnings, and how to safeguard your business against crises.

“Any crisis is a time for change. New needs are emerging along with new opportunities to create a new value – and this is a perfect time to start a business,” Petcube CEO Yaroslav Azhzniuk says, sharing his advice.

“And while someone paralyzed by fear keeps scrolling through their feed, someone else is already learning and getting ready to start something new,” he adds.

The platform currently offers seven interactive courses dedicated to different business areas such as the creative industry, for example, or hotel management, or fabric or ceramics production.

Experts of the SME Development Office, the founder of the Petcube startup, the owner of the Smereka hotel complex in Donetsk Oblast, the brand creator of DeveHome hemp fabric, the co-owner of Donbascermics, the founders of the eco-snacks brand Fewchips, the co-founder of the advertising agency CF.Digital, and their colleagues are lecturers for the platform.

“By launching this project, we don’t want to simply spark motivation in people’s minds, as motivation on its own isn’t always enough,” said Victor Munteanu, the manager of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.

“Instead we’re offering effective instruments that have proved their worth in the many business successes achieved by entrepreneurs from eastern Ukraine. They made it – you will too,” he added.

The platform also has a special section with the latest updates for businesses on the novel coronavirus pandemic, quarantine measures imposed by the government of Ukraine to combat it, and experts’ advices how to manage a business during quarantine times.

Media enquiries

Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, maksym.kytsiuk@undp.org, +380 63 576 1839

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Twelve international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland & the UK.