Expansion of the conditions for providing government grants under the “eWork” program for the development of horticulture, berry farming, and viticulture is planned from January 2024. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, relevant changes have already been prepared.
In particular, it is proposed to change the conditions for planting and arranging plantings on a land plot or adjacent plots. According to the new regulations, paragraph 4 of the Grant Allocation Procedure will be supplemented with the following content:
- Grants are provided for planting and arranging plantings on a land plot or adjacent land plots, the total area of which is from 1 to 25 hectares;
- Placement is allowed between land plots of farm roads, driveways, protective forest strips, and other protective plantations, borders (rivers, streams, canals, forest belts, plant belts, trees, paths, ravines, marshy lands).
Entrepreneurs should take this information into account when developing a planting project if they plan to apply for a grant in 2024.
It is worth noting that the government grant program has been in effect since July 1, 2022, and provides support for small and medium-sized businesses. Grants are provided in the amount of no more than 70% of the project cost, but not more than UAH 10 million. The applicant must finance at least 30% of the project cost with their own or credit funds. A mandatory condition is the employment of the required number of people. For orchards, it ranges from 5 to 10 permanent and 125-425 seasonal workers, depending on the type of plantings. For greenhouses, it is a minimum of 4 permanent and 10 seasonal workers per hectare.