By : Mohamed Shawqi
Five young entrepreneurs in Belarus will receive EU grants to start their business after a competition held on 20 February to select the best business ideas among graduates of the third entrepreneurial skills training, organised by the EU4Youth project.
The five women were among a group of young people from vulnerable backgrounds selected to participate in entrepreneurship training. During five months, they underwent training aimed at developing entrepreneurial thinking, learning the basics of business planning, marketing and market research, financial management and enterprise management, meeting with successful entrepreneurs and receiving advice from them on their business plans.
After completing the training, the nine most motivated participants drew up business plans for their ideas and presented them at a competition in which the evaluation committee determined the best business ideas for receiving financial support.
The winners were:
• Nataliya Titova with a project for repairing brake calipers (€4,000)
• Olga Domanskaya with a project for sewing and selling male underwear (€4,000)
• Ella Gukova with a project for the provision of photo services (photography, organising a photo shoot, processing and retouching photos) (€3,500)
• Yelizaveta Cherneva with a project for the production of exclusive designer metal products from laser cutting (€4,000)
• Valeriya Golovach with a project for the manufacture of handmade packaging for sweets (€3,500)
During the award ceremony, the winners expressed their gratitude to the European Union for the opportunity to realise their business ideas.
The training and grants are provided as part of the EU4Youth: Employability and Stability in Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine project, funded by the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency. The project aims at empowerment and development of the employability and entrepreneurship potential of socially and economically disadvantaged young people aged from 16 to 35 years old, especially young women.
