Vlasna Sprava 2026: full guide to the updated programme

From 1 September 2026 the Vlasna Sprava programme runs on a fundamentally different model. The ceiling for an operating business rises from UAH 350,000 to UAH 2.5 million, and a start-up no longer has to create jobs at all. This is the largest rebuild of the programme since it launched in July 2022.

As of 19 August the programme accepts no applications. The current version accepted documents until 1 August, while the updated one opens on 1 September. So August is an empty month, and preparation is what it is good for.

This guide covers the whole programme using official data from the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture: two tracks, four tiers of bonuses, applicant categories, eligible costs, and the points-based scoring that will decide who gets a grant from September onwards.

What the programme has delivered and why it was rewritten

Vlasna Sprava is a strand of the state eRobota programme, administered by the State Employment Service. Applications go through the Diia portal, and the State Employment Centre takes the decisions.

The Ministry of Economy reports the following figures: since July 2022 the state has taken more than 34,000 microgrant decisions worth almost UAH 9 billion in total. Over 7,000 of those went to individuals starting a business from scratch. Together this created more than 60,000 jobs.

The statistics themselves explain the rebuild. The average approved grant works out at roughly UAH 265,000, which opens a coffee shop or a workshop, although it will not modernise a production line. So the programme functioned as a start-up instrument, and the state decided to add a scaling instrument alongside it.

What changed structurally

• A single set of rules. Separate microgrants used to run under different rules: a general one, one for young people, one for frontline regions, one for preschool education, one for creative industries. Now one procedure covers every recipient.
• Flexible amounts. Fixed sums of UAH 200,000 and 350,000 give way to ranges with bonuses.
• Jobs. Creating 1 or 2 jobs used to be mandatory for everyone. Now a start-up needs none, while scaling needs one.
• Bonuses. Top-ups previously went only to young people and to businesses in frontline regions. Now a four-tier system applies.
• Assessment. A points-based system now applies, so assessors compare applications against each other.

Two tracks instead of a set of microgrants

From September the programme splits by purpose: launch a business or expand an existing one. Because the conditions differ, an applicant has to enter the right track from the start.

Starting a business: UAH 100,000 to 300,000

The base amount runs from UAH 100,000 to 300,000. With bonuses it rises to UAH 500,000.

The change that is easy to miss. For this track, creating jobs is no longer a mandatory condition. Under the old rules an individual hiring nobody could get a maximum of UAH 100,000, while UAH 350,000 required two jobs. So the entry ceiling for a solo entrepreneur has tripled without any additional hiring obligation.

This opens the programme to people who need no employees: craftspeople, designers, consultants, small one-person production. Previously that category hit a wall at UAH 100,000.

Scaling: UAH 500,000 to 1.5 million

The base amount for an operating business runs from UAH 500,000 to 1,500,000, and the maximum with bonuses reaches UAH 2,500,000. The employment condition stays here, although it is soft: one new job suffices.

Compare that with the old rules. UAH 350,000 used to require two jobs. Now UAH 1.5 million requires one. The ratio of money to obligations has shifted by an order of magnitude, and for businesses already trading this is the strongest part of the update.

In both tracks the grant size depends on four parameters: the number of jobs created, the region of operation, the sector, and the applicant category.

The bonus system: four tiers of top-ups

This is the most technical part of the update and also the one that matters most for the calculation. Bonuses accrue as a percentage of the grant size.

Plus 5 per cent

Recipients aged 18 to 25 inclusive. The smallest top-up in the system, and it applies automatically by age.

Plus 20 per cent: five separate grounds

• veteran business entities;
• entities registered as VAT payers;
• holders of a valid Ukrainian patent for an invention or utility model connected to the business project;
• internally displaced people with more than 6 months of entrepreneurial experience, and relocated enterprises;
• applicants committing to create 2 new jobs.

Two of these deserve attention. VAT payer status as a ground for a top-up signals that the state prefers businesses already operating in the open with real turnover. And a valid patent for an invention or utility model is a rare case where intellectual property directly increases the grant, so for production teams that is a real argument to register a patent before applying.

Plus 30 per cent: geography and reconstruction

The first ground covers operating, or planning to operate, in frontline regions. The official list runs: Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv oblasts, plus the Slavutych urban territorial community of Kyiv oblast.

Note two details in that list. Odesa oblast appears on it, even though many other state programmes do not count it as frontline. And the list writes in the Slavutych community separately, as the only Kyiv oblast entry.

The second ground for 30 per cent covers directing the grant at renewing fixed production assets destroyed or damaged by Russian armed aggression. So an enterprise rebuilding equipment after a strike qualifies for the top-up regardless of region.

Plus 50 per cent: priority sectors

The largest top-up goes to projects in priority sectors of the economy. The Ministry of Economy defines that specific list in a separate annex to the procedure.

A practical warning. As of 19 August we could not find that annex with the list of sectors in open access. It is the single most important document for calculating the amount, so look for it deliberately on the official programme site and in Diia before applying.

Who can apply and what the money covers

Three categories of applicant

• individuals aged 18 and over;
• individual entrepreneurs;
• private legal entities.

The programme also provides separate support for veteran business, combat participants, people with war-related disabilities and their families, and the families of fallen defenders.

One restriction carries over from the old rules: an applicant cannot hold a Vlasna Sprava grant and a grant for veterans and their family members at the same time. So veterans have to choose between the two programmes, and the choice comes down to the amount and the volume of paperwork.

Eligible costs

The list in the new model is noticeably wider than the old one:

• equipment and transport;
• repair and rent of premises;
• automation and digitalisation;
• marketing and branding;
• construction or reconstruction of production facilities;
• registration of intellectual property rights.

Two of these are new compared with the previous version. Construction and reconstruction of production facilities were not covered by microgrants at all. The list also now covers registration of intellectual property rights, which dovetails with the 20 per cent bonus for holding a patent.

Conditions that stay

The grant is non-repayable provided the recipient meets the obligations. Under the current rules that means operating for at least 3 years, creating the declared number of jobs and paying taxes to the budget, including for employees. The funds are not subject to taxation. A repeat grant becomes possible once the previous project is confirmed as delivered.

The procedure and what to do before 1 September

Six steps to apply

• submit the application and business plan through the Diia portal;
• pass the check at an authorised bank: from 2026 PrivatBank and Sense Bank joined Oschadbank on the list;
• go through points-based assessment;
• attend an interview at an employment centre if required;
• receive the decision of the State Employment Centre;
• open a dedicated bank account, which receives the funds by transfer.

Diia.Business gives the review period under the current rules: 10 working days for the Vlasna Sprava strand. How that period changes once points-based scoring is added, the procedure does not yet specify.

Points-based scoring changes the logic of applying

This is the change worth understanding before September. Previously an application either met the conditions or it did not: pass the check, receive the money. Now assessors compare applications against each other on points, and a weaker business plan may fail even when it formally satisfies every criterion.

According to estimates circulating in the consulting community, roughly 70 per cent of rejections under the old rules related to business plan quality. With points-based scoring that share will grow, because assessors look at the viability of the idea, the potential for job creation, financial capacity and long-term development prospects.

What to get done in August

• Calculate your bonus profile. List the grounds that apply to you: age, VAT status, patent, region, displacement, veteran status. That determines the amount you can realistically claim.
• Find the annex listing priority sectors. The 50 per cent top-up is the largest in the system, and without the list no calculation is possible.
• Register a patent if you have something to patent. A valid patent for an invention or utility model gives 20 per cent, and registering IP rights counts as an eligible cost.
• Rewrite the business plan for points-based scoring. The State Employment Service publishes the business plan template, downloadable through the Diia portal.
• Check that you are clean before the budget. Tax arrears, bankruptcy proceedings, sanctions or activity in occupied territories all block participation.