For the past five months, ten Ukrainian professionals who returned from abroad through the Create Ukraine program have been working on reforms and strategic initiatives at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. On February 27, they presented their progress, which contributes to Ukraine’s EU integration, investment attraction, business support, and green economy development. Here are the key takeaways from their report.
“We live in times of war, which present us with new challenges. The situation in Ukraine today is significantly different from that of Kurk Lithuania, the parent project of our program. As a result, the tasks our Create Ukraine winners are working on may be more complex than they initially expected. But I want to assure them and our partners that their work here is incredibly important and needed. The Ministry of Economy would be hard to imagine without them,” emphasized Oleksii Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
“Over these five months, the Create Ukraine program has demonstrated its unique value. We understand that having you on our team is a great honor. Everything we accomplish together will undoubtedly go down in history — from working on Ukraine’s investment potential to European integration and other important projects,” said Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
The participants presented their achievements and key initiatives:
Yuliia Mishchuk established a communication mechanism between the Ministry of Economy and the nonprofit sector. She is working on fundraising and coordinating projects related to reskilling, SME support, and expanding economic opportunities for women. Next steps: expanding the partner network and attracting new funding sources.
Yuliya Paska conducted analytical work on the implementation of a new Labor Code and participated in EU screening sessions. She organized simulation sessions to prepare for official negotiations on European integration. Next steps: Developing recommendations for harmonizing Ukrainian legislation with EU standards.
Roksolana Smerechynska analyzed donor initiatives in the areas of skills development and SME support. She organized a series of meetings for the Skills and SME Alliances to enhance donor aid coordination. Next steps: launching the Skills Alliance platform and developing a monitoring system for employment outcomes after retraining.
Oksana Havryliv initiated a series of international workshops to attract investments. She developed the event concept and established contacts with representatives from five leading investor countries. Next steps: Hosting the first workshop and expanding the geographic scope of these events.
Olena Dziubko analyzed Ukraine-EU trade and economic relations, shifts in the economy and trade, as well as key barriers and opportunities. She developed the concept for the first International Trade Forum initiated by the Ministry of Economy. Next steps: hosting the forum, analyzing the outcomes, and continuing analytical work.
Tetiana Haidym co-coordinated the preparation and organization of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 on behalf of the Ukrainian delegation. She facilitated communication among key ministries and prepared initial proposals for the event program. Next steps: Managing logistics and finalizing the conference agenda.
Roman Shemakov created a database of all international financial institution projects in Ukraine since 2018. Based on the collected data, he developed an analytical dashboard for managing investment requests more effectively. Next steps: Fully integrating the database into the Ministry of Economy’s workflow for better investment decision-making.
Iryna Volokha grew the LinkedIn audience of the Minister of Economy by 6,000 followers, significantly enhancing international visibility. She introduced a morning economic digest for real-time updates to the Ministry’s leadership. Next steps: Strengthening engagement with international media and thought leaders.
Stanislava Kruhlian launched an active Twitter (X) communication strategy for the Minister of Economy. She increased post reach and engaged key international economic experts in discussions. Next steps: Introducing new content formats and analytics.
Anastasiia Bilanenko updated the database on available funding opportunities in the green economy sector. She initiated the interagency coordination process to develop a mechanism for assessing green investments and their effectiveness. Next steps: Developing a platform to help businesses attract green investments.
“I am impressed by the quality of your analytics and by how many stakeholders you have successfully engaged. Your work is essential not only for the Ministry of Economy but also for international partners who need coordination for effective collaboration with Ukraine,” noted Dalia Krapavickaitė, Project Manager at the Central Project Management Agency.
The participants will continue working on their projects for another five months, after which their initiatives will be handed over to the Ministry of Economy for sustained implementation. Create Ukraine aims to become a flagship program, bringing even more talented Ukrainians into the country’s transformation efforts.
Create Ukraine is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Lithuania under the EU4Youth program, which supports youth initiatives. The project is managed by the Lithuanian organization Central Project Management Agency and implemented by the KSE Foundation on the basis of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.