MSMES AS A KEY DRIVER OF UKRAINE’S RECOVERY: EVALUATING SUPPORT PROGRAMS, COMPARING INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE, AND CREATING A BANK-HUB STRATEGY
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Date
2026
Authors
Zhulanova, Yuliia
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Abstract
This capstone is a consulting engagement that addresses three applied questions: (1) what the available market and program evidence suggests about the effectiveness of Ukraine’s MSME support instruments in 2022–2024; (2) how these instruments compare with historical and institutional lessons from South Korea, Israel, Japan, and the Marshall Plan countries; and (3) how a bank-based delivery approach can be structured to scale support under high risk and uncertainty.
The analysis relies on practical evidence from operational statistics, program and administrative reporting, and donor/IFI documentation. Because inputs are fragmented across sources, results are synthesized through a unified KPI logic—drawing on OECD and World Bank evaluation approaches adapted to wartime conditions—and presented in comparative tables and appendixes. Oschadbank is used as a case study with a significant market role to validate and illustrate program findings at the bank level. The work also uses historical context to refine instrument design choices and to translate international experience into feasible steps for Ukraine.
Results show that Ukraine deployed a broad toolkit dominated by subsidized lending and guarantees: over 100,000 loans were issued under “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%” (several hundred billion hryvnias), and over 30,000 loans were covered by state portfolio guarantees. Donor and hybrid facilities increase leverage and program quality (approximately 2–4×). The Oschadbank case indicates strong scaling capacity: its MSME loan portfolio increased more than threefold in 2022–2025, with around UAH 65 billion disbursed, supporting the feasibility of consolidating delivery through a Bank-Hub approach. Scenario simulations suggest that an MSME-focused Bank-Hub envelope of EUR 300 million+ could support several thousand additional investment projects and mobilize over EUR 1 billion when combined with IFI risk-sharing. The capstone concludes with an action-oriented plan to priorities instruments, rebalance support toward risk-sharing and blended finance, strengthen unified data and monitoring, and add a venture/equity pillar for innovative and high-growth firms.
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Keywords
Ukraine’s wartime economy, MSMEs, Government & IFI’s portfolio guarantees / risk-sharing, Bank-Hub, recovery policy
Citation
Zhulanova, Y. (2026). MSMES AS A KEY DRIVER OF UKRAINE’S RECOVERY: EVALUATING SUPPORT PROGRAMS, COMPARING INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE, AND CREATING A BANK-HUB STRATEGY. Kyiv: American University Kyiv. URI: https://er.auk.edu.ua/handle/234907866/173