Ukrainian govt together with UNDP working out solutions to promote small, medium-sized businesses - PM

MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner have discussed steps to promptly rebuild Ukraine's critical and housing infrastructure, support for people and the creation of jobs in Ukraine.

"We praise the active participation of the UNDP in providing assistance to citizens of Ukraine who have been forced to leave Ukraine and internally displaced persons, as well as providing logistical and legal assistance in relocating businesses from central and eastern regions to western Ukraine," the Ukrainian government's press service quoted Shmyhal as saying after the online meeting.

Ukraine will highly value the support of the UNDP and other international organizations to urgently restore partially damaged homes, the prime minister said, according to the Ukrainian media. Ukraine also needs equipment and specialists' assistance to demine territories.

The sides also discussed the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

A possible option is to draw up a special program for small and medium-sized businesses as part of which the state together with international organizations could provide people with financial support to encourage them to open and develop their businesses, Shmyhal said.

Steiner, for his part, said that the UNDP is interested in the reconstruction and the development of Ukraine, and his team is already tackling the aforementioned issues jointly with the government and state institutions.