Ukraine Partnership Facility - UPF

Approved projects

We received project proposals varying in size and complexity. Complete proposals were assessed on a first-come, first-served basis by our advisors, the Netherlands embassy in Kyiv, specialists and an advisory committee. 7 projects from companies and NGOs were approved:

Agriculture

• Resilient energy-efficient agriculture and food supply for Ukraine;
• Rebuilding potato Ukraine;
• Building of a multifunctional transshipment terminal for agricultural products.

Water

• Water-immediate damage reconstruction and sustainable solutions.

Healthcare

• Expanding access to diagnostics for improved treatment and rehabilitation;
• Trauma: Scaling up community mental health care for children and youth at risk in Ukraine's conflict-affected communities and beyond;
• Building a prosthetics and rehabilitation centre. 

For whom?

The UPF subsidy scheme supports companies registered in the Netherlands, international companies and civil society organisations that want to work on recovery and reconstruction activities in Ukraine. Partnerships must work with at least one local organisation in Ukraine to establish and implement the project. The main applicant must represent a company or civil society organisation registered in the Netherlands.

Budget

A total of €25 million is available for the 2023 UPF opening. For now, UPF will open once. We will allocate the grant budget to eligible, complete applications on a first-come, first-served basis.

You can apply for a minimum grant of €500,000 for your project and a maximum of €5 million. You can be reimbursed up to 100 per cent of the total eligible costs for each project.

Aim

As a result of the Russian invasion, Ukraine needs a great deal of support. Often, it is not possible to finance reconstruction projects via the commercial sector. To provide support, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established UPF. This programme supports damage repair and reconstruction projects for the public and private sectors. UPF aims to help the sustainable recovery of Ukraine's economy and society in the water, healthcare and agricultural sectors. Where possible, projects should improve the position of vulnerable groups such as women and young people.

Conditions

Conditions for applicants

• A company or civil society organisation registered in the Netherlands must apply for the UPF subsidy on behalf of a partnership. Civil society organisations include NGOs, academic institutes and industry associations.
• A partnership must consist of at least 2 companies or organisations. The partnership must have been formed before the applicant applies for a subsidy. The applicant should submit the partnership agreement together with their grant application.
• All members of the partnership must be private legal entities.

Sectors

Your project must focus on one or more of the following sectors in Ukraine:

• Water
• Healthcare
• Agriculture.

The expertise of companies and organisations from the Netherlands can be particularly valuable in these areas. For example, expertise in providing access to drinking water, essential healthcare or improving food quality. UPF does not cover emergency humanitarian aid.

Mandatory quick scan and our advice

Before applying for a UPF subsidy, you must complete the mandatory quick scan. We may discuss its results with you during an advisory meeting.

Assessment criteria

We will use criteria to assess applications. Certain criteria are more important than others, so each is assigned a so-called 'weighting factor'. The criterion 'results and impact' has the highest weighting factor. For a list of the criteria and their respective weighting factors, see the publication in the Dutch Government Gazette.

Project duration

Project activities must have a minimum duration of 6 months and a maximum of 4 years. The activities must start within 2 months of being awarded the UPF subsidy. Activities can also begin before we have awarded the subsidy.

Responsible Business Conduct

You must follow the OECD guidelines. We can help you with advice, support from our network, and sometimes funding.

Preparing your application

The application process has 3 steps:

Step 1. Mandatory quick scan

Complete the mandatory quick scan on the 'apply for UPF' page. You can send us your quick scan from 4 September 2023 until 19 November 2023.   

Step 2. Advisory meeting

We may contact you within 6 weeks of receiving your quick scan to arrange an advisory meeting. During this meeting, our advisor may discuss whether your intended project fits within the framework of the UPF scheme. This will allow us to better assess whether your application will be approved. We will contact you if we think an advisory meeting is necessary.

Step 3. Subsidy application

After our recommendation on your quick scan, you can apply for a subsidy during the UPF opening period. For more information, see our 'apply for UPF' page. We will process applications in order of receipt. So, submit yours in time and make sure that it is complete. Also, ensure that you can log in with eHerkenning (eRecognition). You will need eHerkenning level 2+ to apply. Apply for eHerkenning on time.

How to apply

UPF is temporarily closed. At this moment, we do not have any information on a possible new subsidy round, the criteria and the applicable application process. As soon as we have more information, we will share it via this page.

Have you submitted your quick scan and formed the partnership? Have you received our recommendation on your quick scan? If so, after receiving our written acknowledgement, you can apply for your UPF subsidy during the opening period via our apply page. There you will find all the necessary forms.

The subsidy application period is from 11 September until 31 December 2023, 15:00 CET. To submit your application, you need at least eHerkenning Level 2+. If you do not have this yet, then first apply for eHerkenning. It may take a few days before your eHerkenning application has been processed.

Once we have received your subsidy application, we will send you a written acknowledgement. We only process complete applications in the order of receipt. If your application is not complete, we will notify you. You can add documents to complete your application until the closing date.

After your application

Within 13 weeks of receiving your application, we will write to inform you whether we have approved your application. We will also send you our assessment of your application.

Publications

More information

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency carries out the Ukraine Partnership Facility on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.