This project is aimed at accelerating the development of the SME sector by strengthening the capacity of membership business associations (BA).

On May 20 and 21, after several months of pause, project participants gathered for the 6th training module in an online environment.

Eduard Maltsev began the training module under new conditions with the words: 'In conditions of complete uncertainty, when we know little, the only chance to come to working solutions is to learn. Often, to learn, we need to create new understanding and new explanations. To hear each other, to understand what is happening 'in the fields', to correctly generalize, to come to conclusions that will be useful to all of us — that is our task with you.'

Participants noted that we entered the war almost immediately after the pandemic, and therefore were ready for remote work and distance learning, as sad as it may sound — we are ready for the worst. From one crisis we immediately entered another, in which we have to find solutions for our BAs and for the businesses of our BA members. Project participants together pondered how the conditions for doing business and the needs of business association members have changed in the new conditions, how the role and mission of business associations are changing at the current moment and in the recovery period.

Together with Olena Sapozhkova, participants sought answers to important questions for business associations: what should membership in business associations look like in the new conditions: in periods of war and country recovery; what do financing strategies look like and which ones need to be chosen. Ukrainian business increasingly talks about being interested in the rules of the game. Not adapting to the rules of the game, but participating in their creation — together with other players, creating favorable conditions for the comprehensive development of the country. At the same time, external — security — conditions must be combined with internal — readiness to play by new rules and take responsibility for the fate of the country. If the old rules are left, interest in Ukraine will fade very quickly. New conditions as a new social contract should be the result of dialogue — primarily between economically active entities — business, civil society, and the state. This dialogue needs to be conducted by setting a new tone, showing that business is ready to think in state-like categories. The role of business associations in forming a new social contract cannot be overestimated. It is business associations that accumulate and express the opinion of business and serve as an important communication link between business, the state, and society.

Strengthening Membership Business Associations of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine Continues