The Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs has announced the launch of a new grant support program. The competition "VARTO: Business with Character" is designed to help veterans realize their potential in civilian life by launching and scaling their own entrepreneurial initiatives. The program is implemented in partnership with Kernel.

The "VARTO: Business with Character" competition is an opportunity for veterans to receive a grant and implement their own business idea. The grant amount will range from 500,000 to 1.5 million hryvnias and will depend on the substantiated estimate of the business project.

Who can participate?

Individuals and legal entities registered in accordance with the requirements of current legislation as veteran entrepreneurship entities can participate in the competition.

The competition is open to all business sectors, without any restrictions on topics.

How will the selection take place?

The competitive selection process includes three key stages:

• technical selection: checking the completeness of the package of documents and the compliance of the application with the requirements;
• expert evaluation: analysis of applications by independent experts;
• Project defense: open presentation of projects in front of experts.

Applications are accepted from May 14 to June 1, until 6:00 p.m. The results of the competition will be announced on July 31, 2026.

Details and application submission: https://veteranfund.com.ua/contests/varto-biznes-z-kharakterom/

Email for questions: uvfprojects@veteranfund.cma.gov.ua (in the subject line of the letter, be sure to indicate: "Project Competition "VARTO: Business with Character" and your application number).

The Ukrainian Veterans Fund is a budgetary institution under the management of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. Since the beginning of its activities in 2022, the fund has already implemented 16 competitions to support business projects of veterans, their families and families of the deceased, as well as initiatives for veterans from public associations for the amount of about one billion hryvnias.

Kernel is a Ukrainian manufacturing and infrastructure company with diversified activities. The company combines agricultural production, processing, production, logistics, export operations and its own IT solutions, supplying products to 60 countries around the world. Kernel provides 10% of global sunflower oil exports. The company actively invests in community development and systematically supports veteran entrepreneurship.