In August, fifteen representatives from ten Ukrainian business support organizations and clusters visited Estonian industrial, logistics, and digital companies as well as design businesses to learn about local export experience straight from the source. For participants, the study trip offered a practical cross-section of export entrepreneurship in Estonia and a good opportunity to build practical contacts for future cooperation.
“Don’t attack large markets all at once — start small, test, fail, and then expand,” summarized Kateryna Smolianiuk of the Kharkiv IT cluster. “Be human-centered — this is always crucial for good teamwork and employee engagement, which benefits you in the long run.”
In addition to a shrinking domestic market, the number of exporting companies in Ukraine has fallen since the start of the war, even though potential is high and revenue from world markets is essential for survival and economic recovery.
Many large companies have slowed or stopped exporting because the war has heavily affected their operations — men are at the front and women have left as refugees. Still, local producers and small and medium-sized enterprises continuously seek new sales opportunities for their services and products in international markets and need systematic support to build export markets or restart them as soon as possible.
Because contacts, knowledge, and confidence are lacking, businesses also turn to local business support organizations and clusters for help — organizations Visionest Institute began training last autumn.
In video: Kateryna Smolianiuk (Kharkiv IT Cluster) ja Oksana Donska (UAFM)
The program has taught teamwork, project management, how to build strategy and action plans, and the principles of selling and marketing services.
This year, participants have also learned agile development and piloting of new services. As a result, participants have produced three-year development plans. They are studying in depth how to conduct export-related consultations for local businesses in Ukraine, from generating ideas and making plans to producing concrete action plans.
Stronger international ties and advanced export skills will help Ukrainian business support organizations promote local entrepreneurship and re-enter global markets more quickly thanks to the Export Alliance Mastery development program developed in Estonia.
“The program was well-structured and very intensive, offering both knowledge and practical tools for entering export markets,” says Oksana Donska, who represents furniture manufacturers in Ukraine, describing her visit to Tallinn. “The discussions sparked ideas for future collaborations and encouraged us to set ambitious goals. The main lesson is the importance of innovation, human-centered digital solutions, and strong positioning on international markets, which could inspire Ukrainian companies to expand globally.”
The Export Alliance Mastery training program systematically improves the capacities of Ukrainian business support organizations (clusters, chambers of commerce, professional associations, etc.), broadens their members’ export opportunities, and develops top-level consulting and strategy skills.
The intensive, highly practical, and comprehensive 14-month Export Alliance Mastery program is based on a TOP 10 innovative training solution recognized by the European Training Fund and offers a learning experience comparable to a European master’s level.
The program includes international study visits, interactive workshops, online mentoring sessions, and feedback from experts from Estonia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland. The study trip to Estonia launched a practicum through which participating organizations will develop a concrete sector-specific export strategy.
The program helps kick-start regional economic growth, improve local companies’ export skills, and increase internal cooperation and efficiency within business support organizations when advising companies on exporting.
“The visit was valuable because it provided an opportunity to learn about manufacturing organization processes, warehouse and transport logistics, and retail arrangements in the EU, about Estonian companies’ cooperation with global corporations, and about the specifics of business process digitalization,” summarized Svitlana Tul, who represents the Poltava Region Development Cooperation Centre. “This will help provide higher-quality export consulting to Poltava companies planning to enter the EU single market.”
Representatives of local business support organizations receive training in export market research, team dynamics, and supply chain topics, while also delving into internet marketing, customer acquisition, and best practices for consulting services.
Ten business support organizations and a total of 46 people are participating in the program; after completing it they will be able to assist hundreds of local small and medium-sized enterprises, including women-led businesses, in preparing and launching their export plans.
There are more than 50 clusters in Ukraine and a chamber of commerce and industry in every region. The Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office (EEPO) is also establishing Diia.Business offline centers across Ukrainian regions, aiming to reach every city with a population of 100,000 (41 cities).
With support from Estonian development cooperation, Visionest Institute has carried out highly effective and impactful development projects for exporters, export consultants, and export trainers in Ukraine since 2017.
The project is supported by the The program includes international study visits, interactive workshops, online mentoring sessions, and feedback from experts from Estonia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland. The study trip to Estonia launched a practicum through which participating organizations will develop a concrete sector-specific export strategy.
The program helps kick-start regional economic growth, improve local companies’ export skills, and increase internal cooperation and efficiency within business support organizations when advising companies on exporting.
“The visit was valuable because it provided an opportunity to learn about manufacturing organization processes, warehouse and transport logistics, and retail arrangements in the EU, about Estonian companies’ cooperation with global corporations, and about the specifics of business process digitalization,” summarized Svitlana Tul, who represents the Poltava Region Development Cooperation Centre. “This will help provide higher-quality export consulting to Poltava companies planning to enter the EU single market.”
Representatives of local business support organizations receive training in export market research, team dynamics, and supply chain topics, while also delving into internet marketing, customer acquisition, and best practices for consulting services.
Ten business support organizations and a total of 46 people are participating in the program; after completing it they will be able to assist hundreds of local small and medium-sized enterprises, including women-led businesses, in preparing and launching their export plans.
There are more than 50 clusters in Ukraine and a chamber of commerce and industry in every region. The Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office (EEPO) is also establishing Diia.Business offline centers across Ukrainian regions, aiming to reach every city with a population of 100,000 (41 cities).
With support from Estonian development cooperation, Visionest Institute has carried out highly effective and impactful development projects for exporters, export consultants, and export trainers in Ukraine since 2017.
The project is supported by the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV).
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ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM AND THEIR CHALLENGES
Dnipropetrovsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Multisectoral business association
In the context of ongoing war and economic disruption, the Dnipropetrovsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry faces significant challenges in supporting a business community grappling with infrastructure damage, workforce shortages due to mobilization, and operational instability from power outages and disrupted logistics. The Chamber must advocate effectively for clearer regulations, mobilization exemptions, and support mechanisms while also providing timely information and services to help businesses navigate legal, financial, and export-related obstacles. With limited internal resources, it must scale up digitalization support, training, and crisis response, all while maintaining trust with local authorities and planning for long-term post-war recovery and reconstruction of the regional economy.
Zaporizhzhia CCI
business support organization/ all sectors
– Supporting SME resilience and export growth in the context of the ongoing war, which has disrupted supply chains, destroyed infrastructure, and limited market access.
– Helping businesses adapt products and processes to meet international certification and compliance requirements under constantly changing trade regulations.
– Maintaining SME motivation and capacity for internationalization despite financial constraints, security risks, and uncertainty.
– Ensuring sustainable funding for business support services in a crisis environment heavily dependent on donor assistance.
Kharkiv IT Cluster
IT
1. Ensuring stability for members and trustful relationships with international partners during wartime
2. Limited resources and funding – small team relative to the number of initiatives and ambitions, dependence on grants and donors.
West Ukrainian Fashion Industry Cluster (WUFIC)
Fashion Industry Sector
WUFIC biggest challenges as BSO today: the biggest challenge – lack of finance. Thanks to your program we finally understood who we are, our strength, and work on our business service development to go through this challenge( lack of finance)
Public union “Ukrainian interior design and furniture cluster EF CLUSTER”
Furniture
Peamised väljakutsed:
1. Limited financial resources, which restricts our ability to scale up cluster activities — from marketing and organizational processes to hiring additional experts.
2. Insufficient understanding of the US market among companies and, at times, lack of trust in our expertise, which means we need more time to prove the right strategies for market entry.
3. The need for stronger support and interaction from government institutions to foster cluster development.
HoReCa
HoReCa sector
Funding
Regional Development Agency of PoltavaOblast “Office of European Integration”
Regional Development and EuropeanIntegration within the framework of PublicAdministration and International Cooperation
Europeanintegration alignment, adapting regional policies andpractices to meet EU standards and regulations, ensuringeffective implementation of EU-funded programs andprojects, institutional and administrative capacity, needfor continuous training and development of expertise inEU affairs, economic and social gevelopment issues, stimulating local economic growth in the context ofnational and global crises, security and stability, operating under conditions of war and geopoliticalinstability in Ukraine, ensuring resilience and continuityof regional development projects, limited access tosustainable funding sources, attracting internationalinvestments and donor support.
West Ukraine Digital, NGO
Business support organisation
The main challenges for the BSO sector in Ukraine today are largely related to the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. Although Ukrainian companies are demonstrating high resilience, adaptability and viability, they still face a number of challenges:
- there is a constant threat of infrastructure destruction, power outages and logistics disruptions throughout Ukraine
- lack of sustainable funding for BSO and investment
- outflow of project managers: due to the war, a significant number of qualified specialists have left for other countries
- support only for narrow-sector initiatives and BSO projects in Ukraine, for example, those aimed at IDPs
- lack of support for export or promotional initiatives
Despite these challenges, the BSO sector continues to actively fulfil its obligations and develop, maintaining and supporting its reputation in the international market.
Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM)
Furniture and woodworking
– Balancing the very different needs of small and big members.
– Staying close and friendly with each member as we grew into the biggest sectoral BSO.
– Supporting members who joined the Army and those whose factories were destroyed by Russia.
U-Food Association
Agri-food export sector
The U-Food Association finds it difficult to unite different exporters because each has its own interests and priorities. It is difficult to quickly establish contacts with buyers and large retail chains abroad and communicate new rules and requirements of foreign markets to all participants.
