Zelensky discusses business loan programs with government

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and government representatives the functioning of credit programs to help businesses during and after quarantine.
They spoke about this during a traditional conference call chaired by the president on May 11 in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the presidential press service reported.

"We discussed a number of credit support programs for small and micro businesses, because they suffer the most from quarantine. We need to help them now and after the quarantine so that they can recover quickly. We need to offer them the so-called repayment holidays," Zelensky said.

PM Shmyhal, in turn, said that the government had created all the prerequisites for the full operation of the updated program "Affordable Loans 5-7-9%", and finalized another program - "New Money", under which entrepreneurs would be able to get loans at a very low interest rate.

"These programs will help Ukrainian businesses withstand the difficult economic conditions caused by the epidemic, as well as guarantee the preservation of jobs. The main condition of the programs is the preservation of at least 80% of jobs in small and micro businesses," Shmyhal said.

The prime minister also said that, according to the State Employment Center, additional 140,000 unemployed people had been registered this month. The Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH six billion from the Anti-coronavirus Fund to help people who lost their jobs.