Success stories

Supporting small businesses in north-west Azerbaijan
Sowing the Seeds of Sustainable Development: Supporting small businesses in north-west Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
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03/07/2019
The majority of households in north-west Azerbaijan live in rural and often remote mountainous areas with limited employment opportunities. The diverse population of the six north-western regions that comprise the Shaki-Zaqatala Economic Zone also includes many vulnerable families displaced by conflict. The Agalarov family, for example, fled to Shaki-Zaqatala from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...
Aliaksandr Danilau and Uladzislau Kazlousky
Eco-friendly entrepreneurship
Belarus
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27/06/2019
Ecoupack, a Belarusian enterprise near the city of Hrodna, started using a new automated production management system known as ‘Gulf Stream’, thanks to support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) programme ‘Advice for Small Businesses’. This support, which covered 60% of the total cost of the implementation and was provided within the framework of the EU4Business...
EU helps Shirak region become IT centre of Armenia
EU helps Shirak region become IT centre of Armenia
Armenia
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13/06/2019
Information technologies (IT) are growing rapidly in Armenia. The country’s government announced IT as one of their priorities and recently decided to establish a Ministry of High Technologies. The Armenian government has also adopted laws according to which newly created IT startups will be granted tax privileges until 2020. In Armenia, almost everything is by and large centralised in the...
DAK Farm in Belarus received support from the EU
DAK Farm. From Belarusian Goats With Love
Belarus
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03/06/2019
When planning for the future of a business, it is important to rely on qualified marketing research and unbiased specialist opinion. This is what Dzmitry Krylou, the owner of DAK farm, the only breeding goat farm in Belarus, was looking for when he applied to the ‘Advice for Small Businesses’ programme implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Developmen t (EBRD) as part of the...
EU promotes social entrepreneurship in Armenian provinces
EU promotes social entrepreneurship in Armenian provinces: a story from Shirak
Armenia
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30/05/2019
Social entrepreneurship is a relatively new phenomenon in Armenia. As recently as five or six years ago, few people knew about it. Despite the fact that there is still no legislation in place regulating it, social entrepreneurship is growing in Armenia. The non-governmental sector is the driving force in this process. Representatives of the sector are now drafting the relevant laws, which are to...
Regional Doing Business, carried out for the second year in a row by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO)
Ease of doing business: ranking spurs regions into improving climate for SMEs
Ukraine
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17/05/2019
The business climate for small and medium-sized businesses is slowly but surely improving in the Ukrainian regions. One of the engines of progress has been a large-scale survey entitled Regional Doing Business, carried out for the second year in a row by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), funded by the European Union as part of the FORBIZ project. In October last year, a festive event...
How studying at the Furniture Business Management School, helped FROP become a team and improve its performance.
Vasyl Fetsenets: We are constantly learning, not afraid of complex challenges and responsibility
Ukraine
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13/05/2019
Vasyl Fetsenets (co-owner of FROP): We are constantly learning, not afraid of complex challenges and responsibility. How studying at the Furniture Business Management School, helped FROP become a team and improve its performance. Vasyl, please tell me, how did the idea to engage in furniture business occur? One day I received a proposal from my current business partner to invest in furniture...
The Digital Pomegranate, an IT company based in Gyumri
Training young people for a digital future in the regions
Armenia
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02/05/2019
Sustainable regional development in Armenia depends on overcomingthe gap between the capital Yerevan and the marzes (regions) by providing young people with the skills they need to fuel local economic growth. The Digital Pomegranate , an IT company based in Gyumri, the country’s second largest city, has employed young specialists trained with the help of the European Union. Armenia’s economic...
The EU and EBRD are supporting small businesses in Modova
EBRD and EU help a Moldovan roof manufacturer to expand
Moldova
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22/04/2019
Designing and building one’s own house is a dream for many, but with millions of decisions to make, the dream can soon turn into a nightmare. “The roof is your first line of defence against snow, rain, hail, heat. A stress-free experience is what Roof Art offers its clients,” Ilarion Ursu, the CEO of Moldova ’s RoofArt explains during a perfect elevator pitch. “When roofing your house, there are...
On the zip wire at the Yell Extreme Park in Yenokavan
Advising designers, adrenalin seekers, and social entrepreneurs
Armenia
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20/04/2019
As part of the EU4Business initiative, the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are developing the private sector in Armenia through advisory services and improved access to finance for local SMEs, provided through the SME Finance and Advice Facility . “Usually business owners come to us, present the issues they have and we advise local consultants and...