Vasyl Andrushchenko has been running the Akvilon farm since 2019. The farm is located in a front-line region, 100 kilometers away from Russia. War has affected his agricultural production. Vasyl was very uncertain about the future.

But he knew that developing the farm was the only chance to get income and hope. Vasyl applied for a credit and a grant within the program "Access to Finance and Sustainability Support for MSMEs in Ukraine" – and was very happy to get it as a small farmer. The credit and the grant enabled him to purchase a tractor. Now he can cultivate 50 hectares of land and complete field operations in a short time. He regained faith and confidence in the future.

The program is funded by the German Government and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with German Sparkassenstiftung and the Business Development Fund of Ukraine. It supports entrepreneurial potential of micro-, small- and medium-sized companies and helps them to improve their competitiveness and resilience.