This publication was produced by the USAID Economic Resilience Activity under Contract No. 72012118C00004 at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. This document is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. USAID ECONOMIC RESILIENCE ACTIVITY: ANNUAL REPORT October 01, 2019 – September 30, 2020
Transcript
This publication was produced by the USAID Economic Resilience Activity under Contract No. 72012118C00004 at the request of the
United States Agency for International Development. This document is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government.
USAID ECONOMIC
RESILIENCE ACTIVITY:
ANNUAL REPORT
October 01, 2019 – September 30, 2020
Program Title: USAID Economic Resilience Activity
Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID Ukraine
Contract Number: 72012118C00004
Contractor: DAI Global, LLC
Submission Date: October 30, 2020
Author: DAI Global, LLC
CONTENTS
CONTENTS 2
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 3
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6
II. INTRODUCTION 8
BRIEF SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY 8
III. CONTEXT UPDATE 9
KEY NARRATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS 9
BIG INFRASTRUCTURE 11
INCLUSION 13
INCREASING CAPABILITIES 13
INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES 18
GROWTH 23
MARKET EXPANSION 24
INVESTMENT ACCELERATION FOR MSMES 31
TRANSFORMATION 33
DRIVING VISION 34
COMMUNICATION 39
SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 41
IV. COORDINATION 43
V. PROGRESS AGAINST TARGETS 46
VI. PERFORMANCE MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING
The WBSCs successfully completed the first round of business development training for women. In
total, 79 women completed the training course at three WBSCs (26 women in Sievierodonetsk, 27
in Mariupol and 26 in Kramatorsk), gaining knowledge and skills on starting and running a business.
Pre- and post-training evaluations done by the grantee show an average 34% improvement of
knowledge. The second round of the same training and mentorship program is currently ongoing.
Quarterly monitoring conducted through Year 2 among grantee beneficiaries discovered that 23
people confirm better employment conditions, including four with self-employed status who were
unemployed before taking part in the grantee’s training.
The WBSCs provided mentorship support to 36 graduates from the first training program cycle,
who were selected on a competitive basis. All participants noted the real effectiveness of mentoring
support after graduating from the business school. Mentoring sessions helped them solve individual
specific business issues, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as WBSC mentors
assisted participants in finding new markets, keeping their businesses operating and minimizing
potential losses. Complementary to the business schools and mentoring sessions, UWF organized a
series of 15 information webinars during May–July 2020 for 706 women, including 631 from Luhansk
and Donetsk Oblasts and 75 women from the Sea of Azov area.
The high level of efficiency of the grant interventions, which were based on an individualized
approach, enabled beneficiaries to prepare quality business plans and receive either grant support
business plan. Motivated by pandemic restrictions to adapt and expand her small production and
new niche—branding for business—and received her first orders from fellow participants. After
expand the range of services with almost no additional investment and to develop a competitive
business plan for creation of a website highlighting nearby tourism destinations in Donbas Oblast.
YOUTH
In the beginning of Year 2 ERA supported
the establishment of the Ukrainian
Leadership Academy (ULA) branch in
Mariupol. ULA’s primary mission is to
discover and support leadership potential
in young and ambitious high school
graduates who would like to take a gap
year to help them determine their future
direction. The quarantine and associated
restrictions were serious challenges for
ULA because their approach is based on
principles of mutual assistance, active participation and leadership that are most effective when
students are living together in a host community. Fortunately, the grantee transitioned all essential
from other donors or private investments in their businesses. For example, a self-employed mentee
learned how to market and sell her sewing services and goods and developed a competitive
start selling online, she not only gained additional individual clients but several large orders
from Kyiv-based companies. While studying at the UWF business school, she discovered a
obtaining a 6,500 Euro grant from UNDP this summer to help with start-up expenses, she has since registered as a private entrepreneur.
Another graduate of the first round of WBSC training and mentoring in Kramatorsk is the owner Kolo Druziv, a tourist agency and cafe which she opened using her own savings in 2019.Training at the UWF business school and further mentorship sessions inspired her to
scheduled academic activities to an online format that allowed 35 students to complete their
academic requirements to graduate in June 2020.
Through multiple training events over the year, ULA has established a large, informal community of
young Ukrainians living in the east. Apart from the academy training, students have been involved in
the Youth Council, the Cool Youth strategic planning working group contributing to the Mariupol
Development Strategy 2021–2030, a summer school for Mariupol schoolchildren, the Liberal Arts
program for teachers from Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, and many other activities.
ULA enables young people to participate in decision-making as a contribution to Mariupol’s strategic
planning process: a ULA mentor was elected deputy head of the Cool Youth working group and the
results of a youth survey conducted by ULA students with the assistance of a professional
sociological research agency substantially contributed to elaboration of the Mariupol Development
Strategy 2021–2030.
The youth survey showed a range of positive findings: the
majority of respondents confirm that Mariupol is a rapidly
developing city and a good place for work and life; almost
73% of respondents rather or completely agree with the
statement that Mariupol has certain advantages among
other cities of Ukraine for youth development due to
increased cultural opportunities, many festivals, educational
institutions, proximity to the sea, diverse identities and increasing empathy of the population after
the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine; around 87% of respondents see an increase in the
level of opportunities for youth over the last two years.
This fall 40 new students began their academic program for the 2020–2021 ULA academic year. On
September 26, 2020, the official opening ceremony of the newly renovated ULA Mariupol campus
Another ERA youth partner, Shift, a non-profit youth organization established in August 2018 in
Kramatorsk, discovered in previous work that young people in Donetsk Oblast are very interested
in creative industries and creative entrepreneurship as a way of earning money in their free time
entrepreneurial thinking for successful self-fulfillment and a better quality of life for themselves and
society. Shift noted that unfortunately there was no space in Kramatorsk where young people could
get practical expertise on how to monetize their talents, skills and creative ideas without cash
investment.
73%
survey respondents see
the advantages for youth
development in Mariupol
building took place. Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and USAID Mission Director attended theeremony and congratulated the Ukrainian Leadership Academy’s achievement in developingcohorts of new local youth leaders. ULA students and mentors will cohabit in Mariupol for thenext 10 months while studying and organizing numerous networking events. The ULA campushas earned the name Center of Leadership Development, which reflects its mission and characterizesthe events that will take place in it.
after classes. Shift has the mission to promote and develop young people’s creative skills and
The project was designed to enable different segments of the population to learn from scratch and
gain basic professional skills in IT. The online education program within the grant began in January
2020 by providing training for participants on one of five specific skill tracks: front-end web
development, web coding, automated testing, manual testing and digital skills (basically for office
workers regardless of their type of job duties). Each track has its own features and level of difficulty.
However, all are in high demand in both the Ukrainian and global job markets.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine measures, a series of additional offline
workshops were conducted in the form of webinars, which increased from the six originally planned
to 32. In addition, eight were prepared as purely practical online workshops (boot camps) with
homework and evaluation by professional mentors. Modification of the events’ format made it
possible to keep students and enable them to continue acquisition of knowledge and skills.
Despite the adjustments made to the program, it continues to be implemented and bring both
qualitative and quantitative results. In total, 2,556 people from Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts have
registered to participate in the IT Nation program. By September 30 there were 440 unique
graduates. Moreover, 185 students earned two or more certificates of completion, meaning that
they managed to pass several courses simultaneously. Among the unique certificate holders, 102
initially declared themselves unemployed and 21 graduates identified themselves as self-employed, i.e.
without a license or registration as a private entrepreneur, which is considered unstable
employment.
The grantee organized a career-oriented session where mentors talked about the rules of writing
and designing a resume and preparing for interviews with an emphasis on technical (hard skills) and
non-technical (soft skills) aspects. To support the graduates, the grantee created a resume database
which currently contains 65 CVs. Global Compact has actively promoted the database among IT
companies and other businesses throughout Ukraine.
The grantee’s reporting indicates that grant participants are actively looking for entry level work or
at least an internship. In post-training surveys conducted by the grantee, 17 students declared that
results to continue to accrue over the next year.
Many graduates in post participation interviews mention the practicality and usefulness of the
they had been through first interviews and felt competent enough to be hired. An IDP from Bakhmut completed a full course of training on the platform within two months, prepared a resume,and engaged with the project mentor during webinars, setting an example to other participantsof how to work out mistakes when writing a resume, communicate in a professional manner,and be ready to succeed during an interview. ERA quarterly monitoring revealed that 13 GlobalCompact beneficiaries had declared better employment just a few months after completing theonline courses. It is still too early to see the total impact of the grant and ERA expects the
acquired IT skills. A father of a disabled child from Bilokurakyne village joined the project with twogoals: to gain skills in a new IT profession and strengthen his digital skills. He is satisfied with thetraining program because it gave him an idea of where to move further in the IT field. Participationin the grant activity allowed him to strengthen and improve his skills in his current work; findcontractors that might hire him for outsourcing work; plan new projects; negotiate with potentialclients; and estimate budgets of future orders. Another grant beneficiary, a civic activist and singlemother from Kramatorsk, acquired the skills of a manual tester and now has a chance to be hiredby a Ukrainian IT company. She is already actively using her new skills to help test a website beingdeveloped for a friend’s company.
Unemployed graduates of the online IT courses have demonstrated progress in building and
INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES
SUPPORT TO MSMEs
During Year 2, ERA continued with co-creation of grants which were earlier selected through its
Year 1 APS, issued on February 28, 2019. As in Year 1, these grants aimed to target vulnerable and
hard to reach populations by supporting activities of local and international NGOs focused on
marginalized and underrepresented beneficiaries and development of local businesses that hire and
serve vulnerable groups. From 30 grants developed by the Inclusion team in Year 2, 11 grants have
been awarded for business development, with some of those grants reaching their end. Below are a
few success stories from our MSME beneficiaries.
national and regional Internet service
providers which offer affordable tariffs,
smaller communities remained
unattractive to large providers due to
Internet connection is essential for all categories of the population nowadays, and it is impossible to
imagine work or education without it, especially in remote rural areas. As the grant wrapped up on
October 6, 2020 (just after the close of the reporting period), the grantee had effectively
implemented all scheduled activities within the reporting period. The grantee’s company has
connected 128 households in four villages, which is 13 more than envisaged under the grant
workplan. Requests from neighboring villages keep coming, so the grantee is planning to expand its
presence in two more districts of the northern Donetsk area.
any staff and kept operations running, it had to increase operation costs to ensure personnel’s health
and safety. Nevertheless, the ERA grant allowed the entrepreneur to create four new jobs in
Slovyansk and improve working conditions for existing staff by raising salaries. Most of the staff
employed by the company represent vulnerable population categories including IDPs and
representatives of IDP host communities.
developing new careers. A recent graduate noted that he was already preparing for an interviewwith an IT company after completing courses in automated testing, digital skills, and front-enddevelopment. Another unemployed graduate initiated a webinar with mentors on manual testing,motivating other participants by her example of a woman striving to become a full-time ITprofessional. A self-employed graduate has successfully completed an advance web front-enddevelopment course and recently announced that he was working as an IT freelancer.
A private entrepreneur (PE) has been
operating the Sky Star Internet serviceprovider in the northern part ofDonetsk Oblast since 2014. Whilelarger cities like Sloviansk andKramatorsk are covered by
low returns on investment. The PE
has identified this gap as a niche for his business model and become the only Internet providerin the area. To expand the operating range of his low-margin business, he successfully applied
for a grant from ERA.
COVID-19 became a major challenge for the above-mentioned PE. Even though the company did not furlough
Luhansk and Sorokyne (now part of NGCA). In 2016, due to the conflict in the region, she was
forced to relocate to Kreminna where she opened a business after successfully implementing a
micro-grant from the Danish Refugee Council to provide entertainment activities to children.
Successful business operations and
constantly growing demand stimulated the
grantee to further expand her range of
services. In December 2019, an ERA grant
entertainment center and youth hub in
Kreminna. Regular field visits to the grantee
and reviews of its Instagram posts show
that the Mozaika children’s center is very
the total number of entertainment options to ten. As a result of ERA support, Mozaika’s business
activity has proved profitable as revenue increased in the first month after the center opened.
usage of new practices, techniques, and business management skills as a result of ERA assistance. The
quality of the services provided has gained positive feedback from many clients, who expect further
expansion of the grantee’s entertainment activity for children. The grantee plans to open a youth
hub at a separate premise, and a café for children’s center clients on the same floor as the
entertainment center.
After obtaining a single-needle embroidery machine and lockstitch sewing machine, the speed and
with embroidery and logos. "Clients began to turn to us with requests to apply embroidery on
clothing—names, logos of companies. A lot of buyers are interested in branding their company.
Now, thanks to the ERA grant, we have received a machine for embroidery. We have developed
almost 20 embroidery models and are already using the new equipment to embroider polo shirts
and work clothes,” says the businesswoman.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sewing workshop quickly adapted to produce
protective masks, allowing it to fully retain its staff and prevent reduced revenue. The grantee hired
Another private entrepreneur is a former director of children's entertainment centers in
allowed this PE to open a children's
popular among the local population. The PE
now offers five new services such as air hockey and a children's labyrinth and ball pit, bringing
During the grant, the PE employed four new staff who confirmed better employment and
A third private entrepreneur had her own business sewing specialized workwear in Horlivka, DonetskOblast (currently NGCA). Due to the conflict, she moved to Lyman district with her family and withthe help of two employees managed to restore the sewing business in rented premises in Kramatorskin 2015. Despite the growing demand for medical workwear, the low production capacity of thesewing workshop reduced the number of potential clients and orders and outsourcing branded logoapplication increased costs and production time. In November 2019, the PE received an ERA grant to automate the manufacturing process with new sewing equipment, thus increasing her range ofservices, production, and sales.
quality of work has visibly increased and the PE can now develop and offer customers products
two new employees who keep applying new practices using the new equipment. The above-mentioned
PE expanded the range of services to produce not only medical clothing, but also branded clothes for
employees of cafes, restaurants, hotels, and cleaning companies. This expansion allowed her to recover from a temporary fall in sales at the start of COVID to a slight increase in monthly sales by the end ofthe reporting period.
enhancing the pool of partner companies and analyzing the curricula for further modernization in
accordance with renewed technical infrastructure and employers’ demands. In the framework of the
current grant PSTU has developed a scientific-based collaboration with Magma, a Mariupol-based
manufacturing enterprise and an active, ERA I4M team partner, whereby a PTSU PhD student
employed by Magma is conducting a specialized study on the equipment that ERA has provided for
the newly created Laboratory of Microelectronics and Robotics. Such research and development
(R&D) cooperation will be a starting point for linkages between the University and local employers,
while building a foundation of R&D that ensures better sustainability of ERA’s strategic interventions.
Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian University is the only technical higher educational institution in
Luhansk Oblast. Although its engineering majors used to be very popular among companies in the
region, the university’s technical capacity was lost due to the conflict and displacement from Luhansk
city. Through ERA grant support, the University is creating two modern computer laboratories for
chemical and mechanical engineering aimed at delivering modern, upgraded resources and training
potential.
It is important to underline that ERA’s grant for Dahl University is strongly attached to close
cooperation with big regional employers. Currently engineers of Khimproekt, one of the most active
engineering companies in Luhansk Oblast, have developed educational models based on the use of
simulators in University labs, strengthening the University’s capability to offer up-to-date knowledge
and skills to students and advanced training for teachers. Khimproekt is sharing its software with the
University to make the training process efficient and practical.
INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM. During 2019–2020 ERA continued promoting innovative
development and startup entrepreneurial activities in the targeted universities of Donetsk and
Luhansk Oblasts under a grant to Sikorsky Challenge LLC, launched in August 2020. The Sikorsky
Challenge grant will help build a university-based innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem within
eastern Ukraine at the four universities mentioned above (DonNTU, LNAU, Dahl University and
PSTU) along with the Donbas State Engineering Academy. Together with the universities, ERA has
begun to form another type of innovation ecosystem—enhancement of a network of innovative
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education centers for teenagers. In May
COVID-19 RAPID RESPONSE. In accordance with the USAID approved ERA COVID-19 Rapid
Response workplan, in August ERA issued grants for equipment and software to be used for distance
learning to five ERA partner universities: Berdiansk State Pedagogical University (BSPU), Dahl
University, DonNTU, LNAU and TSATU. These grants are aimed at strengthening the organizational
and technical capacity of the five ERA partner educational establishments to maintain high-quality
distance learning for current and future students. The five universities are ready to expand the
variety of educational services offered through distance learning as soon as they get ERA’s technical
support in using new resources and adapting content to a distance online setting. All five grants will
help the universities adapt to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 epidemic and the related
economic crisis.
DUAL EDUCATION. In line with introduction of the dual education approach to partner
universities and in response to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MoES) order dated
October 15, 2019, ERA supported all partner universities on the MoES’ list of pilot institutions, and
2020 ERA provided a grant to an experienced and well-known educational entrepreneur to equip
and furnish an existing STEM center in Vuhledar and set up two new centers in Kurakhove andVolnovakha. Focusing on STEM and robotics these centers will help to form teenagers' engineeringmindset and consequently encourage high school graduates to enter the technical universitieslocated in their regions.
Beekeeping SMEs In Luhansk, Donetsk And Zaporizhzhia Oblasts” program designed in Year 2 will
be rolled out in Year 3. Finally, in response to COVID-19, ERA is helping small agricultural
producers improve their branding and enter online sales to reach middle class consumers.
Consultancies were initiated with companies in the produce delivery, meat and milk processing and
specialty fruit sectors to improve online sales. Details for each of the mentioned key achievements
are provided below.
MARKET EXPANSION
HONEY GROWTH SECTOR
Throughout Year 2, namely September 25, 2019–February 15, 2020, the honey sector team
conducted the multi-component Professional Beekeeper course for 72 beekeepers from Luhansk
and Donetsk Oblasts. This training served as a bridge to cover the gap in professional education for
adult beekeepers who cannot spend years studying at formal educational institutions. The intensive
pace and condensed curriculum gave all necessary information over the course of five weekend
training sessions and was aimed at enabling beekeepers to scale up production, introduce new
products with higher added value, and reach new markets. After the first beekeepers' group
graduated in mid-2020 the curriculum was adjusted based on the feedback of trainers from Hadyach
Agrarian Lyceum, ERA experts, and trainees themselves.
As a further development of this initiative
and way to achieve sustainability, ERA
organized a training of trainers (ToT) on
June 15–August 7, 2020. Newly prepared
trainers were selected from agrarian
professional college and university (LNAU)
teachers, state officials in relevant bodies
and services, and champion beekeepers. This
pool of new trainers should bring positive
changes on the institutional level, promoting
beekeeping education in educational
institutions and advocating for changes in governmental policies and approaches to the sector, and
should also inform beekeepers about new best practices in modern apiary business. In Year 3, ERA
plans to engage the trainers with further training on professional beekeeping to build the capacity of
smallholder beekeepers and foster development of the sector in ERA target regions. Thirty-one
participants have passed the ToT and are now certified trainers who will provide training and
consulting to beekeepers living in the region.
The knowledge received from the trainings should provide a path for smallholder apiaries to build a
more resilient business that is able to better sustain turbulence within local and international honey
markets. A specific case of an IDP could serve as an example of the training’s impact. The IDP movedwith his family from Luhansk city to Spivakivka village, Novoaidar Raion. After he graduated fromthe training, he and his neighbors created a cooperative that serves as a honey aggregator and allowssmall beekeepers to form large honey batches and deal directly with honey exporters, avoiding a middleman. It ensures better prices and more reliable customer relations for the beekeepers.During the training, the IDP learned about royal jelly as one of the added value products that can beproduced by apiaries. This season he tested this idea and produced his first batches of royal jelly;next year he plans to offer it as a niche value-added product at local open-air markets and online.
Course programs and a second incubation program for potential startups, and hold two Demo Days
for startup presentations, the largest of which will be held as part of the Priazov Valley Invest Forum.
Besides teaching, the center's team initiates open educational events and competitions such as
Design Battle South Coast on July 31, 2020, a national competition in which 70 graphic designers
from 17 cities of Ukraine took part.
When ERA initiated its partnership with Social Boost, its expected output was for 1991 Mariupol to
become a real driver in the local IT ecosystem, which it has established over the course of the last
year. Thanks to USAID’s support the center constantly promotes the IT industry in the city and
unites IT entrepreneurs, developers, designers, managers, and other digital specialists on its site.
Mariupol IT companies see fresh perspectives, and new informal groups of would-be IT
entrepreneurs trying to come up with marketable products that are constantly being established,
some of whom are planning to join the existing Mariupol IT cluster created by ERA in 2019.
One of the successful stories that happened in 1991 Mariupol is local IT company MakeBeCool.
high-quality recommendations from the best Ukrainian mentors and experienced IT entrepreneurs.
largest venture capital funds in Ukraine for further negotiations. A private investor also showed
company now has significant potential to grow into a large product company with a portfolio of e-
commerce products: the team now employs five people, while still participating in the incubation
program.
Another successful case is participation in the incubation program of an Estonian team looking for an
opportunity to create their own product development team in Ukraine and launch their startup in
cities with a low representation of effective construction firms. Their product idea, where one can
prototype a home design in just 10 minutes in a mobile application, solves problems of modern
construction. The implementation of such a complex project could take years, but within the
incubation program the Estonian innovators were able to craft a strategy to minimize their risks and
time resources. The software is expected to be partly running by November 2020. At the moment,
the Estonian team has attracted five Mariupol-based specialists and has plans to expand its staff in
Mariupol in the coming year. Without the 1991 Mariupol Start-up Incubation Program, the Estonian
team would not have considered Mariupol (or southeast Ukraine) for their start-up venture.
IT CLUSTERS. With ERA support, representatives of the IT sector have established two clusters in
Kramatorsk to implement joint projects to develop the IT community of Donetsk region and form a
common vision for development of the IT industry in eastern Ukraine. The creation of the clusters
took place under rather difficult conditions during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERA
IT Sector Lead incentivized and moderated nine online meetings and videoconferences with more
than 20 local IT companies to form a common vision of each cluster and find joint motivation for its
participants to be united in a formal organizational clustering. Travel restrictions forced potential
cluster members to search for safe and stable communication means. Telegram channels where the
participants could communicate interactively became a fast and innovative solution, which still plays
an essential role in real-time information exchange in the clusters as of the end of the reporting
period.
The company’s founder came to the incubation program to launch his IT product for ane-commerce market. In the program, the founder was able to make the first sales of his product,prepare documents for venture investors, understand his potential consumers, and receive
On July 16, 2020, the founder presented his idea to investors, after which he was invited to one of the
interest in the product and invested $20,000, which allowed his team to bring the product to
new markets and complete all necessary functionality of the site for end consumers. The
Over the course of Year 2 ERA provided training on tourism product development in Mariupol,
Berdiansk, Kyrylivka, Melitopol and Henichesk, covering all major resorts in the Azov region. A total
of 105 participants from the hospitality business, restaurants, travel agencies, local authorities and
community activists developed new products and offered them to customers in the fall of 2020 to
extend the tourism season and attract new clients. The products were built around unique features
and attractions of the resorts, example products included a Yoga Weekend with a tour in the
Pryazovskyi National Park with yoga practice in pristine nature; or a Mariupol Epochs weekend tour
which visits legendary industrial giants, the sea port and Meotyda National Park; conference services
in Kyrylivka with meals and accommodation, excursions, photo sessions and conference services; or
a Wellness tour to Berdiansk with medical and spa procedures designed for couples who plan to
conceive.
To supplement the aforementioned training, 134 people representing local hotel and restaurant
businesses, museums, national minorities, artists and local authorities received tools and targeted
one-to-one TA on how to turn cultural heritage assets into compelling and commercially successful
tourism products. The new cultural products developed will be offered in the upcoming tourism
season, attracting unconventional tourists, and changing perception of the Azov region as exclusively
a sea, sand and sun destination.
ERA’s efforts to unite businesses and
resorts in one tourism destination yielded
the first results when after the training in
Henichesk on June 24, 2020, local
businesses and authorities registered the
Hospitality Association of Henichesk Raion
on July 29. The association will focus on
increasing the level of service quality,
renovating tourism infrastructure, and
creating a strategy for local community development. In addition, the association plans to establish a
fund for development of the resort's infrastructure, which will be sustainably financed through locally
levied tourism fees.
Another ERA initiative in promotion of the Azov region as a desirable tourism destination was the
launch of the Azov.Travel portal that displays promotional materials to advertise local tourist events
and covers developments in the regional tourism sector.
A professor who is a well-known expert in cluster formation was invited as a special guest to oneof the videoconferences and persuaded the IT firm representatives to join forces to make the ITindustry even stronger. The East-Ukrainian Technocluster was formalized and registered by ninemembers as a legal association on September 3, 2020, with plans to launch social projects in medicalservices, software solutions using artificial intelligence for utility service providers, the IT-Sandboxecosystem educational project, a startup incubator in Kramatorsk and the creation of a regionaltechnology park for the IT-community. The second cluster, IT Donetchyna Cluster, was registeredon September 16, 2020, uniting three IT companies and is now at the stage of signing an MoU withERA. The third cluster in ERA’s area of operation was registered in Mariupol in August 2019 duringthe last reporting period by ten local enterprises and continues to cooperate with ERA and the 1991Mariupol activity, described above, which has become a center of gravity for the IT sector in that city.
In terms of MSME COVID-19 Rapid Response, ERA organized two Local Farmer Festivals, in
Berdiansk on August 22–23, 2020 and Mariupol on September 19–20, 2020. The main goals of the
two events were to promote farm products among potential consumers, establish communication
channels between sellers and buyers through online sales, open new sales channels for farm
products and attract clients who have recently shifted to supermarkets as safer places than
traditional open-air marketplaces. Almost 50 representatives from Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia
and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts participated in each event. The festivals, held in strict compliance with
the quarantine standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of
Ukraine, were styled as rural fairs with gastro shows, masterclasses and open-air film screenings in
the evening.
The main goals of the festivals were fully achieved. Rough visual estimates indicate that the two
festivals (over four days) were attended by many thousands of visitors; and feedback sessions
facilitated by ERA Local Produce Realization Specialist revealed that the total revenue of therepresentatives was about UAH 3.2 million for Berdiansk and around UAH 5 million for Mariupol;both festivals provided an opportunity for producers to reach preliminary agreements on cooperation,and some began to receive orders through social networks. The feedback collected by ERA specialists
shows that these two events made a positiveimpression on local authorities and had a "woweffect" on participating farmers. Both authoritiesand farmers expressed interest in holding suchfestivals regularly if COVID-19 restrictions permit.ERA plans to organize four similar events in 2021on national and/or religious holidays, withsubsequent transfer of event owenership to localauthorities and the local business community.
SUPPORT “BIG PICTURE” EVENTS TO PROMOTE THE EAST REGION
On October 29, 2019 ERA co-sponsored the landmark Mariupol Investment Forum (MIF), attended
by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk, US Chargé
investors. The event was important for contributing to the improvement of Eastern Ukraine’s image,
opening prospects for new foreign and domestic investments and reviving public interest in current
business opportunities in the region. During the forum, participants collectively signed 12
memoranda of understanding (MoU) or cooperation for one billion USD in investments. Four mobile
communications operators signed an agreement to ensure 4G broadband cellular network coverage
providing fast-speed mobile web access across 90% of Ukraine’s vast territory. The Big Infrastructure
project section of this report above contains a description of ERA's cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia
in restoring the railway infrastructure of Luhansk Oblast which was incentivized during the forum.
This high-tech event, was executed effectively with keen attention to logistic details and the inclusion
of media through public relations arrangements involving the presence of journalists from over 200
media outlets including Bloomberg, Voice of America and the Wall Street Journal, impressed both
Ukrainian and international attendees. Those who attended or were reached via media publications
(over 20 million people) were influenced to perceive Eastern Ukraine less as a zone of conflict and
more as one representing economic opportunities.
In the run up to the Mariupol Youth Forum, the Ukrainian Leadership Academy (ULA), ERA’s
grantee, in cooperation with the Mariupol City Council, the GoU, and Ukrzaliznytsia, transformed
the outside of an 11-car train with the «СХІД Можливостей / DAWN of Opportunity» logo and
ULA branding. The train transported 500 young leaders representing all 24 Oblasts of Ukraine from
the DAWN of Opportunitys concept with young participants willing to contribute their own
creativity, time and knowledge to develop a vision for Ukraine 2030 that will help the region flourish
and become a thriving place to live and work.
The Mariupol Youth Forum received national attention and ended with the Mariupol Investment
Forum. In the following months two Youth Forum participants joined work on the Mariupol 2030
strategy. About twenty local youth participants of the forum took part in events organized by ULA
Mariupol and joined projects in the city as active volunteers.
Development (EBRD), and many other financial institutions and big foreign investors. The event was
d’Affaires (CdA), USAID Mission Director, Ukraine ministers, top management of theInternational Finance Corporation, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Kyiv to Mariupol. The CdA, along with other high-profile participants, attended the train’s highlypublicized send-off. ERA designed sweatshirts, bags and notebooks for the forum and shared
is currently reviewing the strategy compliance to be finalized by February 5, 20201 or within six
months after issuance of the GoU Resolution.
economic transformations, including the experience of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Transformation
team now uses this study as its guiding document in its approach to transformation in ERA’s five sub-
regions. The team used the Luhansk Regional Coalition Forum’s platform to present the key findings
of the study including successes and drawbacks of each city’s transformation experience, as well as
potential development models and their applicability to cities in eastern Ukraine. As a next step, ERA
translated the study into Ukrainian, received feedback from partner city administrations, and started
utilizing the proposed approach in developing a strategy for Mariupol. The coal cities in Donetsk
Oblast also expressed interest in Pittsburgh’s transformation experience to be adapted to their own
challenges.
NORTHERN DONETSK GCA
ERA started supporting Bakhmut city to develop its strategy back in May 2019. During this process,
the neighboring settlements around Bakhmut decided to join the city and form a consolidated
community (CC). As a flexible response to unexpected circumstances, ERA proposed to elaborate a
Development Strategy for the newly established Bakhmut Consolidated Community, and on April
21, 2020, the strategy was successfully adopted. The Development Strategy has four directions for
development with a three-year Action Plan as a separate document. For 2020 Bakhmut CC
expected to implement 50 projects included in the Action Plan, and as of July 2020, 41 projects are
at different stages of planning and implementation for a total amount of almost UAH 40 million.
CENTRAL DONETSK GCA
ERA facilitated development of Dobropillia CC Development Strategy and its Action Plan, which was
adopted in April 2020 with two directions: “Economic Development and Investment Attraction,”
and “Comfortable and Safe Space for Work and Life and Quality and Available Services”. The
strategy will start functioning after local elections in late October 2020. However, work on its
implementation is ongoing: the community has identified priority projects—the city market and
“Dream Park”—and now ERA’s Infrastructure team is preparing all necessary documents for further
submission to USAID, tentatively in early November.
Similarly, the Economic Development Strategy for the city of Pokrovsk and Action Plan for its
implementation were adopted by a working group and community development leaders. The
Development Strategy is built on three main directions: “Pokrovsk for Investment” (economic
development), “Pokrovsk for People” (infrastructure and leisure), and “Pokrovsk for Ideas” (active
and responsible community). Due to changes in the city’s leadership, the city council has not finalized
the strategy adoption yet. At the same time, the city council is still selecting priority projects to be
implemented under the agreed strategy.
In March 2020, the ERA Transformation team, together with EU4Business and GermanWatch
projects, started work with the Coal Cities Platform, which unites seven municipalities in Donetsk
Oblast: Dobropillia, Myrnohrad, Novohrodivka, Pokrovsk, Selydove, Toretsk and Vuhledar. The
overall purpose of this effort is two-fold: to help strengthen linkages among the cities so that they
can advocate for their needs with a common voice to central government ministries and bodies
(which are making their own plans to close state-owned coal mines); and to help the region develop
Partners4Growth’s lead expert conducted the Model Cities Study to inform the strategy ofERA Transformation Initiatives. The study provides a comparative analysis of regional
ERA’s approach to coordination is broad-based and multi-faceted. Coordination begins “at home"
within the ERA organization and between the Operations and Technical areas of the Activity. The
ERA office structure has program management and operations with Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of
Party Operations, and administration and human resources support based in the ERA Kyiv office.
Technical and logistics provide support with Deputy Chief of Party Technical, Senior Infrastructure
Manager based in Kramatorsk, and Economic Resilience Strategy Lead based in Sievierodonetsk
respectively. ERA partner DRC works out of their office in Slovyansk and ERA maintains a project
office in Mariupol. With nearly 80 staff, close internal coordination and cooperation is imperative to
ERA’s success.
ERA INTERNAL. As the COVID-19 restrictions mandated a work from home policy, ERA has
carefully implemented a system of coordinating safe office access upon request as needed with strict
limits per department. This has enabled mainly finance and logistics operations access to offices to
support the entire program. ERA Component leads have continued individual component team
meetings on a regular weekly basis and a bi-weekly all Component Coordination meeting has been
established to regularly share highlights, plans and strategic discussion with all teams including grants,
MEL and operations. ERA also has a regular, weekly Senior Management meeting which includes the
COP and both DCOPs.
USAID AND USAID IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS. ERA coordinates continuously with USAID as
needed and on a regularly scheduled bi-weekly basis with the COR and ACOR alternatively with
Operations and Technical focus. As the work of ERA has expanded in eastern Ukraine, the Activity
has intensified its coordination with other organizations playing key roles in the region’s economic
development.
During its second year, ERA continued to coordinate closely and on a regular basis with other
USAID partners including the Democratic Governance East (DG East) program, the Competitive
Economic Program (CEP), the Energy Security Program (ESP) and the Credit for Agriculture
Producers (CAP) program. ERA, through its commitment to proactive cooperation, was involved in
design and implementation of joint programming with DG East both in development of the Mariupol
Strategic Development Plan 2021–2030 and with CEP in research and assessment of personal
protective equipment manufacturing capacity in Ukraine.
ERA and ESP coordinated at national and local levels on vital energy and infrastructure issues in
Eastern Ukraine: together with DOSA leadership and the management of Voda Donbasu (the
regional water public utility) worked to develop a scope of work for assessing the water
infrastructure system. Together with ESP and representatives of USAID, EU, the World Bank and
GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), ERA is coordinating our support on
the GoU’s emerging national strategy on coal sector transformation with a focus on seven coal cities
in central Donetsk Oblast.
GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE. Throughout the reporting period ERA has increased its regular
formal coordination with Oblast partners in Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and especially Donetsk. In
October 2019, ERA management together with the USAID Director of Economic Growth and COR
and ACOR, met with the new Governor of Donetsk Oblast and administration representatives.Since that meeting the ERA DCOP Technical has maintained a regular schedule of monthlycoordination meetings with the Director of the Department for International Technical Assistance,Innovative Development and External Relations to review ERA program plans and activities and DOSA plans and priorities. Similar meetings happen in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast where
of Culture, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Youth and Sport, 5-7-9% Program, Ministry for
Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, CAP, USAID EO Business Incubator.
the Economic Resilience Strategy Lead is based and they meet frequently on specific priority
Relations. Coordination with Zaporizhzhia and the recently added Kherson Oblast is project-oriented and managed mainly through the Economic Resilience Strategy Lead and Growth sectorleads focused on Tourism, IT and Agriculture initiatives.
programs or LOSA issues with the Head of Luhansk Regional State Administration and the Directorof the Department for International Technical Assistance, Innovative Development, and External
PAUSE AND REFLECT SESSION ON INTERIM RESULTS AND PROGRESS TOWARDS
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS. On June 23, 2020, the ERA team gathered to analyze and discuss
the Year 2 6-month results and progress towards the full year’s key performance indicators. The
team focused on the indicators that seem to be falling short and determined and analyzed the main
factors influencing progress against targets considering pre and post COVID-19 conditions. The
team also discussed what adaptive management was happening and would need to happen
considering the pandemic. Based on the conclusions drawn, the team is integrating lessons learned
into further programming in Year 3 work plan development, and later will revise annual and life of
Activity (LoA) targets, if needed, after submission of the Year 3 Work Plan.
PAUSE AND REFLECT SESSION ON THE ASSESSMENT OF SHARE OF VALUE CHAINS
cities of Eastern Ukraine. The team discussed how the study results could be used and what could
be introduced into programming for the coming years. The team agreed to translate the study into
Ukrainian and share it with ERA partners and interested stakeholders, to create a one-pager or
infographic based on the study’s key findings and recommendations to make it more digestible for
ordinary audiences, as well as to think about organizing interviews with representatives of the model
cities as one approach to talk about the study to a wider audience and attract the attention of ERA
strategic partners and other interested stakeholders. In short, the Model Cities Study is currently
the strategic blueprint for how the Transformation team is approaching its work with all the cities
and ERA sub-regions with which it engages.
WORKPLANNING PAUSE AND REFLECT SERIES. After revision of the ERA Learning Agenda
and agreeing upon it with USAID in early June 2020, the work plan development sessions were all
held remotely because of COVID-19 restrictions. The Pause and Reflect series consisted of seven
meetings remotely between the period of July 2–28, 2020. Each session has one key topic and led to
support the work plan process, which was also done without any physical meetups. Besides the
sessions described above, there was a kick-off meeting on July 2, where the team discussed COVID-
19 constraints and available options for working interaction, lessons learned from the first wave of
grants and the one-stage grant procedure analysis, as well as potential points for intersection
between different internal teams. Further, every ERA component sequentially presented the results
of its work during Year 2 with the main implementation takeaways for future planning. Once the
outcomes had been discussed, the component teams disclosed their plans for the next year by
outlining tentative types of interventions and profiles of potential grantees. The work plan activities
that followed the P&R sessions ended up with the Year 3 Work Plan submitted on time to USAID
on August 30, 2020.
AND CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS IN THE EASTERN ECONOMY. On June 25, 2020, ERA
ERA value chains and cross-cutting sectors in the economy of Donetsk and Luhansk GCA and theSea of Azov region. The team discussed the assessment results—feedback and comments from thetechnical leads, and ideas/suggestions on other ways to capture or measure ERA input intodevelopment of selected value chains and cross-cutting sectors.
Team Lead presented developments to date towards the adoption of model cities’ experience in the
PAUSE AND REFLECT SESSION ON THE PITTSBURGH STUDY. On June 30, 2020,
MEAL Director and an ERA economist consultant presented results of the assessment of the share of
Partners4Growth presented the Model Cities Study key findings and ERA Transformation
12. Amendment #1 to grant agreement G-Kra-013 “Modernization of the work clothes atelier”.
13. Amendment #1 to grant agreement G-Kra-018 “Improvement of healthcare services for the
The full list of 42 grants approved by USAID during Year 2 of the Activity’s implementation can be
found in Annex 2.
By the end of Year 2, several other grant applications were under development or pending USAID
approval, including:
• NGO Azov Development grant, submitted to USAID for review/approval on September 21,
2020, to enable a supportive environment for non-educated youth and the LGBTQI
community of Mariupol for safe self-improvement in creative industries and further
integration into city life ($163,737)
• NGO Slavic Heart grant to reduce social and economic dependency of gender-based
violence (GBV) survivors on their abusers through implementation of a comprehensive
approach on socio-economic assistance to GBV survivors in Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka
(Donetsk Oblast); to build the capacity of municipal bodies to help them adapt their
approach when working with GBV survivors (approx. $165,691)
• NGO Ukrainian Leadership Academy grant to strengthen the capability of the Ukrainian
Leadership Academy to engage local youth in social and civic activities, teach them life skills,
and help them develop their professional careers in the region (approx. $156,641)
7. Amendment #1 to grant agreement G-Kra-007 “Moko pizza”. Grantee Private Entrepreneur.
sewing company". Grantee Private Entrepreneur.
Private Entrepreneur.
Grantee Private Entrepreneur.
population of Novopskovskyi Raion of Luhansk Oblast”. Grantee Private Entrepreneur.
• Private Entrepreneur grant to assist private bakery “Tisto” to expand the range and qualityof its bakery goods through implementation of the food safety system Hazard Analysisand Critical Control Points (HACCP) and using modern equipment in the foodproduction process (approx. $16,017)
4 $15,500,00 = $4,922,432 (Obligated from Table 5) + $8,759,285 (Identified Grants from Table 6) +
$1,818,292 (Future TBD from Table 6)
• Private Entrepreneur grant to improve the quality and expand the range of servicesprovided by the veterinary clinic “White Bear” through procurement of additionaldiagnostic equipment (approx. $31,096).
