Almost 5,000 unemployed citizens in ten regions have already joined the Army of Recovery project to perform community service in ten regions. This was reported by Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna on the air of the Yedyni Novyny National Telethon.
“Today, almost 5,000 unemployed people in 10 regions have joined the Recovery Army. These people receive a payment of UAH 6,700 for performing socially useful work, which is higher than the average unemployment benefit. So participation in this program is beneficial for the unemployed. Last year, the state financed such works for UAH 29 million. In 2023, UAH 104 million is allocated for this purpose. Therefore, we urge the regions to actively use the opportunity to organize reconstruction work,” said Tetiana Berezhna.
According to her, the list of socially useful works carried out in a particular region depends on its needs. The unemployed can be involved in defense-related activities, work to eliminate the consequences of man-made, natural and military emergencies. This may include work on the arrangement and strengthening of checkpoints, cutting down trees to form trenches, harvesting firewood for the military and the population, clearing rubble and restoring residential buildings damaged as a result of hostilities, unloading and packaging humanitarian aid, cooking for the military and weaving camouflage nets.
The leaders in engaging the unemployed in community service are Poltava region – 1,418 people, Sumy region – 980 people and Kyiv region – almost 900 people.
The Deputy Minister also noted that last year the Government had introduced a number of active programs to reduce unemployment and improve the labor market situation, which would continue to be in place in 2023. In particular, this is the eRobota grant program, which is very popular among Ukrainians. Last year, it was used by more than 2,500 entrepreneurs, who received grants from the state for starting and developing their businesses to the tune of UAH 1.56 billion.
“Each of these entrepreneurs has to fulfill a mandatory condition when receiving a grant – to create new jobs. We expect that 300,000 jobs will be created through the implementation of various programs of the eRobota project – microgrants, grants for the development of processing enterprises, horticulture and greenhouse farming,” said Tetiana Berezhna.
Among other employment incentive programs, she mentioned the payment of compensation to employers for hiring internally displaced persons. Last year, entrepreneurs received compensation totaling UAH 200 million for employing 16,500 internally displaced persons. This year, the Government has allocated UAH 308 million for the implementation of this program.
The Government also continues to implement the enterprise relocation program, under which it supports businesses in relocating production facilities and employees with their families to safer regions. To date, 790 companies have been relocated under this program, 80% of which have already resumed work at their new activities. The relocation program helped save more than 35,000 jobs. In addition, more than 7,000 people have found jobs with the relocated companies. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)