USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) together with Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast presented the first Investment Directory of business profiles of Melitopol companies for international partners. The directory includes information about 22 companies in Melitopol; over time it will be updated with contacts from other manufacturers.

Melitopol was also visited by Joe Deacon, Director of Distag QSC Ltd., Ireland, which manufactures agricultural machinery and buys spare parts from various countries around the world. Deacon visited more than ten local producers to learn about their production facilities. This visit was organized by ERA and the Melitopol Development Agency through the FAME (Farm Machinery, Automotive Parts, and Machine Building Enterprises) initiative implemented by ERA to develop relevant companies in the region.

ERA collaborated with the Melitopol Development Agency to create a profile portfolio of Melitopol manufacturing companies while attracting potential buyers in Europe for specific parts and solutions.

The city of Melitopol was chosen to pilot this initiative due to its strong manufacturing heritage and base of industrial enterprises, as well as light engineering companies.

In 2022, ERA will focus on training and building the capacity of eastern Ukrainian enterprises to help manufacturers systematically improve their ability to respond to the needs of international customers. According to ERA experts, this could shorten the supply chain in Europe heavily affected by COVID-19 related crises and disruptions of goods and supply chains from Asia.

Drukarskyi Dim (Printing House) Center for Labor Rehabilitation of the Disabled has started producing paper cups. Currently, this enterprise based in Kramatorsk is the only company in eastern Ukraine manufacturing paper utensils.

With the assistance of USAID Economic Resilience Activity, the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Oschadbank issued a loan of 1,300,000 hryvnias to the social enterprise to purchase equipment.

“All paper utensils are now imported to Donetsk Oblast, so we decided to occupy this niche,” said Yurii Melnyk, the company’s director. “A preferential loan allowed us to buy a machine to produce paper tableware. Now we have coffee cups in our product range. Printing equipment allows us to put various prints on paper.”

Drukarskyi Dim makes and sells cups of Finnish and Swedish paper to small shop owners and coffee suppliers in Bakhmut, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Lyman, Pokrovsk and Sviatohirsk. The company is now looking for investments to purchase further equipment to produce a wider range of cups for tea and cocktails, paper plates, cornstarch bags and corrugated cups. Drukarskyi Dim is a socially responsible business, employing 10 people with disabilities out of its 19 staff. The launch of new equipment will help expand the assortment of products and employ additional people.

“Available Loans for Social Enterprises in Eastern Ukraine” project has a value of USD 100,000 and is implemented by WNISEF with the assistance of USAID Economic Resilience Activity.