Ukraine's Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are identifying new areas of financial support for Ukrainian businesses and start-ups.

Source: Ukraine's Ministry of Economy, following a meeting between representatives of the two sides

Details: During the discussion, JICA presented a new component of its project supporting small and medium-sized businesses, which was launched in October 2025. It aims to determine what future support the Japanese government could provide for the development of Ukrainian business, particularly innovative companies and joint Ukrainian-Japanese projects.

Two key areas were discussed:

• technical assistance – launching pilot joint projects and strengthening institutions such as the Ukrainian Startup Fund;
• financial support – creating investment funds, credit instruments and co-financing models.

The Japanese agency has elaborated five possible models of financial cooperation with Ukraine. These include:

• lending to companies through Ukraine's Business Development Fund or state-owned banks (already possible under the current regulatory framework)
• participation in funds that will invest in Ukrainian companies
• the potential establishment of a Fund of Funds (FoF), an instrument that pools state and private capital and channels it into venture funds.

Separately, JICA stressed that launching an FoF in Ukraine would require significant legislative changes, whereas credit instruments could be implemented more quickly.

"We are interested in instruments that actually work: fast loans for business, investment funds and partnership projects with Japanese companies," said Pavlo Kartashov, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy.

The new JICA mechanisms could achieve the following:

• reduce start-ups' dependence on grant funding
• attract long-term investment capital
• create more opportunities for Ukrainian-Japanese technology projects
• help Ukrainian companies scale up to international markets.

Background: In mid-October, Ukraine and Japan agreed to advance the implementation of assistance already planned by Japan for Ukraine's energy sector, including the involvement of Japanese companies in joint projects.

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