How the program works to support projects with significant investments
You have 12 million euros of investment capital at your disposal. With these funds, you can implement a large-scale project. The key question is how to allocate these resources to achieve the optimal ratio of return to risk?
Ukraine offers a specific support mechanism: invest and the state will compensate up to 30% of your capital costs. This is a legally binding investment agreement within the framework of the state program to support projects with significant investments. Such an investment is considered to be a deposit of €12 million or more – previously, the bar was higher, €20 million, but we deliberately lowered it when we realized that businesses are ready to enter Ukraine even during the war – we just need to create clear conditions.
Among the benefits for investors:
exemption from VAT and customs duties on imports of new equipment;
compensation for the cost of engineering infrastructure;
support and guarantees from the state throughout the investment process.
This program is designed for companies that are planning large-scale long-term projects and expect a reliable partnership with the state.
How it all started
Back in 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed the Law on Supporting Investment Projects with Significant Investments. Back then, the amount of €20 million or more was considered "significant," and for the first time, the state promised to refund up to a third of business capital expenditures – in taxes, infrastructure, and non-auctioned land use.
Before the full-scale war, companies had already applied for $2.29 billion. Two of them had almost reached the approval procedures, but on February 24, 2022, everything stopped.
Reset in time of war
In August 2023, the parliament lowered the threshold to €12 million, expanded the program to include bioenergy and electronic communications, and allowed investors to start construction 18 months before applying. This made the mechanism flexible, fast, and accessible to medium-sized businesses .
The next step was the Cabinet of Ministers' Resolution No. 468 in April 2024, which described in detail how the costs are reimbursed from the budget. Since then, the program has moved from legislation to practice.
What we have today
During the year, we signed four special investment agreements worth €238 million. Two more projects are undergoing evaluation, and ten are preparing documents.
Live examples:
Poltava region: a new plant for deep soybean processing, €76.6 million in investments, 110 jobs, and almost UAH 2.9 billion in taxes by 2032.
Ivano-Frankivsk region: water park for 21.5 million euros, 82 jobs, 1.66 billion UAH of expected revenues.
Lviv region: GORO Mountain Resort recreational project worth 140 million euros, 290 jobs and more than 7 billion UAH of taxes by 2039.
In total, at least 300 new jobs with salaries 15% higher than the regional average have already been created or are being finalized. The total tax effect of the four existing projects is estimated at UAH 11.8 billion by 2039.
Why Ukraine needs it now
First, large-scale private investment accelerates economic recovery better than any budget program. Second, 90% of projects are located outside the capital: this is a balance of regions and new growth points. Thirdly, new production facilities are export-oriented and EU-standardized, which embeds us in global supply chains. Finally, each signed agreement is a signal of trust to international partners: Ukraine is capable of growth .
How to become an investor
If your project falls within the 12 million minimum and five-year horizon, register a Ukrainian legal entity. Submit an application to the Ministry of Economy with a feasibility study, a plan of jobs (at least ten, with a salary higher than the average in the region) and an investment schedule.
After government approval, you sign a special agreement and immediately receive an umbrella of benefits: income tax exemption for up to five years, zero customs duties and VAT on equipment, compensation for networks, land without auction, and reimbursement of costs for your own infrastructure. Expenditures made a year and a half before the application are also counted as up to 30% of the investment.
For your convenience, we have prepared bilingual guides with checklists of documents; they are publicly available on the Ministry of Economy website.
The program of "significant investments" is not a mechanism for granting benefits for the sake of their existence, but a structured tool that allows businesses to share the risks of war with the state and at the same time accelerate post-war reconstruction.
We can already see how a plant in Poltava region or a resort in the Carpathians are working to restore and grow the economy. If you have the capital and the strategic vision, Ukraine today offers a risk/reward ratio on the European map. And while our defenders are holding the front, the economy remains open to those who are ready to invest in victory and development.
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