Businesses in Ukraine are planning on expansion and will borrow money for development.

According to a European Business Association (EBA) study, the number of entrepreneurs who plan to raise funds to develop their businesses in 2024 has increased to 80% from 67% last year.

In addition, the number of entrepreneurs planning to expand their business increased from 76% to 79% over the year. Of them, 30% plan to open new lines of business, 21% plan to expand their team, and 28% to increase employees’ wages.

Among the surveyed entrepreneurs, 41% rate the state of affairs in their business as satisfactory. The share of those who predict that the situation will improve (37%) prevails over the share of those who believe it will worsen (35%). The share of those who consider bank lending unavailable has decreased from 59% in 2022 to 42%.

At the same time, the majority assesses the economic situation in the country negatively; 34% consider the economic situation unfavorable, and 31% catastrophic. At the same time, the number of respondents who consider the economic situation favorable increased to 11% in 2023, compared to 8% in 2022.