The selection of participants for the national award for contribution to the development of entrepreneurship — Ukrainian Enterprise Promotion Awards (UEPA) — has started.

UEPA is the Ukrainian national stage of selection of candidates for participation in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA)*. The UERA award will be given to initiatives that contribute to the development of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises at the national, regional and local levels. This year, the selection is coordinated by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

Candidates will be elected in the following nominations:

• promotion of entrepreneurial spirit
• investing in entrepreneurial skills
• support of digital technologies
• improving the business environment and supporting business internationalization
• support for sustainable transformation
• responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship
• * within the framework of the competition, a grand prize will be awarded for the most creative and inspired entrepreneurial initiative in Ukraine. The distinction does not allow competing for participation in the European part of the competition.

National organizations, regions, communities, cities, public-private partnership initiatives, educational programmes, and business organizations may apply for participation in UEPA (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises may only apply to the Responsible and Inclusive Business category).

Applications for participation in the UEPA will be evaluated by a Ukrainian jury according to the unified European criteria used in the EEPA evaluation.

The selection criteria are as follows:

• originality and realism
• impact on the local economy
• improving relations with local stakeholders
• the possibility of scaling the project to other European countries

The deadline for submitting an application for participation in UEPA is 30 June 2024 (inclusive).

You can learn more about the award and apply at the link.

*Selection for the European EEPA Award takes place in two stages: first, participants compete at the national level. From among the winners of the national selection, each country chooses two participants for representation in the European competition.

As a reminder, in 2022, the national Diia.Business project won the European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2022 international award in the Support for Business Internationalization category.

The national Ukrainian Enterprise Promotion Awards 2024 is initiated by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Office for Entrepreneurship Development and Export within the framework of the EU4Business: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in a consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta under the financial support of the European Union.