• State aid has doubled
• Small business is captivated by pessimism
• Risks from the introduction of electronic workbooks
• IKEA paid for free
• Build new corporate traditions

 Everything that happened last week in Ukraine and the world and that is relevant to the furniture maker, read in our digest:

1. The Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to the Procedure for providing financial state support to small and medium-sized enterprises. The decision is aimed at further development of the program of soft loans “5-7-9”.

From now on, the maximum assistance-compensation from the state for those who received a loan last year will be not 200,000 euros, but 400,000. This is another step towards “cheap money” that has been unavailable to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine in recent years.     

2. The majority of small businesses – 80% – assess the current economic situation in the country as unfavourable for doing business. This is evidenced by the study “Small Business Expectations Index”, published by the European Business Association in the framework of the Unlimit Ukraine project.  

The index of small business sentiment index is 2.38 points out of 5 possible, which is the worst indicator in the history of the study since 2017, the EBA emphasizes. Last year, the index was 3.07 points.

Entrepreneurs cite low purchasing power, the impact of quarantine restrictions, the tax burden and fiscal pressure as the main reasons for pessimistic expectations.

3. As you know, Ukraine has decided to abandon employment records in paper form. Labour accounting is transferred to the electronic register. However, despite the declared advantages of such an innovation, there are many risks. The main one is that in some cases it will be difficult for an employee to prove that he worked legally somewhere at all.

“Besides, it is absolutely unclear at the moment who will be in charge of keeping these same e-books on the part of the employer. Previously, the employment record was handed over to the personnel department, where entries were made in it, now the personnel department will work with the state register. There is also a reasonable question: how to avoid the leakage of personal data from this register, who will be responsible for it, who will transfer the data from these e-books to the Pension Fund? Will this happen automatically? ” – Yuriy Gavrylechko, an expert of the Ukrainian Thought Factory, asks logical questions.

4. The world’s largest retailer of furniture and household goods “IKEA”, which opened the first store in Ukraine on February 1, made a self-pickup of goods paid. Previously, the service was free. The cost of delivery to delivery points: an order weighing up to 30 kg will cost 39 UAH; orders weighing more than 30 kg – UAH 59.

Users can also order delivery of goods to post offices, which will cost 39 UAH. The order will be stored in a cell or delivery point for three days, after which it will be returned.

5. 2021 will be a defining year for the entire 21st century, according to the global consulting company “Accentur” and give seven tips that can help businesses be successful. And here is the seventh tip.

Pandemics and lockdowns have broken corporate traditions, destroyed corporate emotional bonds between employees, between companies and customers. Corporate parties, holidays and festivals, Friday parties, sports competitions, maypoles – all this strengthened the employees’ sense of loyalty to the company, teamwork. So now the task of employers: to determine how to restore the lost, how to attract customers, especially potential, to corporate events in the new environment.