The USAID Economic Resilience Activity (USAID ERA) has kicked off renovation support to Ukrainian pharmaceutical company Microchem to help them continue to deliver life-saving medications. Microchem has been in business for 33 years, providing more than 50 types of medications with a special focus on drugs to treat cardiac and neurological diseases. Until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the company worked in Rubizhny (Luhansk Oblast) and employed 400 people. After the war started, Microchem had to relocate to a building in Kyiv.
USAID ERA is now helping Microchem carry out a major renovation of the third floor of this building (1,000 square meters), which will be used for both production and administration. Work began in July with repairing floors, plastering walls, and installating new windows and ventilation and electrical systems. So far, 10% of the work has been completed.
Work will continue until January 2025, during which time, contractor UkrBudEngineering will also dismantle internal partitions, install a modern elevator, and renovate the entrance to accommodate people with disabilities, among other work. The project was developed by the CDM Engineering Ukraine company and reviewed by USAID Green Powered Technology (GPTech). Microchem currently has 182 employees.
“The assistance we receive from USAID ERA is very important for us, as a company that lost its capacity due to the full-scale invasion,” said Mikrochem Operations Director Dmytro Koval. “After this major renovation, we will be able to accommodate an additional 20 specialists, who are currently spread across Kyiv and located in various rented offices…Our task is to increase our staff by approximately 30% by the end of the repair work.”
“2022 and 2023 were periods of testing and recovery for the company,” he explained. “We have now entered the development stage. The new production areas, created with the support of USAID ERA, will help Microchem to further scale the business both in the Ukraine market and abroad.”