On the Path to Ukraineʼs Recovery: How Visionest Institute Educates SMEs, Preparing Them for International Cooperation

To become a trusted enterprise for foreign investors, companies must refine their internal processes and external communications – a challenging and lengthy endeavor. This journey can be simplified by participating in educational programs established by the Ukrainian government, international partners, and non-governmental organizations. One such organization is Visionest Institute. Founded in Estonia over 20 years ago, Visionest has expanded globally and started operating in Ukraine in 2017.

Consulting and training projects from the Visionest Institute drive Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to develop their export capabilities, making them attractive investment targets for international donors. How this is happening is detailed in the Forbes BrandVoice article.

Developing Ukrainian SMBs: The Mission of Visionest Institute

Over the past seven years in Ukraine, Visionest Institute has developed and implemented over ten nationwide online and offline training projects, including lectures, courses, training sessions, and consultations, reaching more than 5,000 business community members. Four of these programs were launched during the full-scale war.

Visionest Institute specializes in consulting projects focused on enhancing the export competencies of directors, CEOs, and top managers of Ukrainian SMEs. They also assist Ukrainian exporters in meeting compliance criteria for trading in foreign markets. Ukrainian and international business consulting experts teach Ukrainian entrepreneurs how to enter and operate in international markets, fostering robust global partnerships.

«We act as a bridge between Western investors, who have available funds and seek transparent and profitable investment opportunities, and small Ukrainian businesses and communities that have specific needs and lack the financial resources to meet them,» explain the experts at Visionest Institute.

Preparing for Ukraineʼs Recovery: The Ukraine Rebuilding Task Force Program

In June 2023, Visionest Institute launched the Ukraine Rebuilding Task Force program, backed by the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV). This initiative aimed to teach Ukrainian SMEs how to internationalize their projects for Ukraineʼs reconstruction and find and collaborate with foreign partners.

The program (INSERT: The program was implemented in cooperation with the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office with financial support from the Office of the Coordinator for European and Eurasian Assistance of the U.S. Department of State and the Estonian Center for International Development) ran from October 2023 to the end of June 2024, targeting Ukrainian business owners, executives, and specialists in construction, architecture, urban planning, engineering, and consulting. These participants were ambitious to create and participate in international projects for rebuilding Ukraine.

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The program focused on developing effective strategies for finding foreign partners and funding and establishing connections with the international community dedicated to Ukraineʼs reconstruction. Out of over 1,000 applications, 300 participants were selected. They created internationalization concepts for their projects and developed corresponding business plans with the help of partners and international mentors.

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Results of the Program: Concepts Worthy of International Funding

In the first stage of the program, participants learned in the following directions: analyzing the interests of international stakeholders in Ukraineʼs reconstruction sector; models of international cooperation (body lease, franchise, licensing, FDI, joint venture, M&A, co-op, agents, platforms, tendering); developing business strategies for reconstruction; digitalization and innovations in reconstruction services; pricing strategies, demand management, and profitability; marketing and sales of services at the international level; branding and storytelling; preparing for global market entry, sales plan, costs, and cash flow, and return on investment. The second stage involved collaborative work among the top participants in regional teams. Entrepreneurs formed five groups representing five regions of Ukraine: Kyiv, Central, South, West, and East. Each group, led by mentors from Germany, Finland, and Estonia, developed a business plan for a reconstruction project in their respective region. At the end of June, there was a presentation of these business plans in Kyiv, each having the potential to secure funding from international donors.

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• Western Ukraine Team, Project «Transcarpathian Business, and Investment Support Center». Required Budget: €2.4 million, Project Duration: 36 months.

The team is confident that amidst the challenges caused by the war, Western Ukraine remains relatively stable and safe, serving as a foundation for economic activities that can stimulate Ukraineʼs recovery. The Centerʼs objectives include creating a single point of comprehensive support for businesses, facilitating market entry, improving access to capital, promoting cooperation with industrial-economic zones, developing potential and skills, and fostering innovation.

The projectʼs partners include the Regional Development Agency of Zakarpattia Oblast, Uzhhorod National University, and the Business Support Center Diia. Business | Uzhhorod.

• Eastern Ukraine Team, Project «Digital Hub for Ukraineʼs Recovery». Required budget: €360,000, project implementation period: 36 months.

The project of the Eastern Ukraine team, «Digital Hub for Ukraineʼs Recovery,» aims to coordinate the infrastructure restoration process in Ukraine following the full-scale war. It combines efforts to secure funding, contractors, and project implementers.

The Digital Hub will engage all stakeholders, coordinate their efforts, optimize resources, and implement recovery projects. This is proposed to be achieved through social investments from businesses and donors. As examples of infrastructure restoration, the team cites projects such as building a factory for electricity and heat production from solid household waste or constructing safe housing for internally displaced individuals.

• Kyiv team, Project «Investment in Ukraineʼs Infrastructure». Required budget: €300 thousand, profit forecast: 15% of investment in the 4th year. Required budget: €300 thousand, profit forecast: 15% of investment in the 4th year.

The project aims to assemble international investors with Ukrainian companies that implement infrastructure projects by ESG.

The team seeks to accelerate sustainable development and economic growth in Ukraine by promoting infrastructure investment. Its goal is to raise capital from foreign investors to finance infrastructure and ESG projects totaling €500 million over the next 10 years, ensuring their profitability. The team has already created a portfolio of projects and will provide full support.

Funding sources include confiscated Russian assets, donor funds, and private investment.

• Southern Ukraine Team, Project «Community Centers for Rural Communities».

The project aims to improve the lives of rural communities by building multifunctional community centers. The team has developed a modular platform with a cafe; a shop selling souvenirs and locally produced goods; a coworking area for online work, workshops, seminars and consultations for entrepreneurs, and offline meetings; a tourist information center; a library for workshops, lectures, and cultural events; a platform for educational programs and entertainment events (concerts, film screenings); a psychological counseling center; and sports clubs. The teamʼs architects have created an inclusive design with multifunctional, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly spaces. The local workforce will be involved in the construction.

This initiative is designed to support micro and small businesses in rural communities in Ukraine; develop educational and cultural opportunities; improve the physical and mental health of the population, focusing on veterans, displaced persons, and their families; introduce inclusive spaces and develop tourism, while creating an interesting investment opportunity.

• Central Ukraine Team, Project «Innovative modular waste recycling EcoBin Dynamics». Required budget: $50.52 million, payback period: 5 years.

The goal of the project is clean and healthy communities where waste is a source of energy, as well as the prevention of man-made disasters and the improvement of the overall environmental situation. The team has proposed a concept: various waste processing modules will process different types of waste. For example, the team proposed a plant (module) for processing destroyed buildings and construction waste, covering 250,000 houses, and a plant (module) for processing tires into carbon fuel briquettes, that can utilize 300,000 tires.

The team has calculated the investment cost of one of the projectʼs facilities, a construction waste recycling plant, at $4.43 million. The project implementation will help conserve natural resources, reduce harmful emissions, and increase economic efficiency. The project will require cooperation with the government, businesses, environmental organizations, and the public.

Anu-Mall Naarits

CEO of Visionest Institute

«The Ukraine Rebuilding Task Force program has an important mission for Ukraineʼs recovery: training and empowering professionals to create international projects to rebuild the country. We sought to rapidly empower local SMEs, enabling them to effectively collaborate and innovate in partnership with Western companies. This program has successfully trained more than 300 small and medium-sized enterprises that are now ready to become reliable players in the international arena. We have built an active professional community that covers the whole of Ukraine, and we are proud of these practical results».

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