From sole proprietors to mid-sized business: how women’s entrepreneurship is growing in Ukraine

Women account for 42% of Raiffeisen Bank’s sole proprietor clients, but their share declines as businesses grow: in the mid-sized segment, women own just 11.8% of the Bank’s corporate clients. Nataliia Hurina, Chair of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank, spoke about how to help Ukrainian women entrepreneurs scale up during the panel “The Courage to Grow” at the 10th Ukrainian Women’s Congress.

According to the Bank’s data, the average age of a woman sole proprietor is 47, and of a woman company owner, 50. Women also show a lower level of problem debt: among sole proprietors, 2.3% versus 3.1% for men, and in small business, 1.9% versus 6%. In the first nine months of 2026, Raiffeisen approved 5.6 thousand loan applications from women entrepreneurs worth more than UAH 3 billion, which is 51% more in number than a year earlier.

“A woman has the right to determine her own future: when to return to work, what business to start, how large a company to build. Our task as a bank is to help her go from ‘I want’ to ‘I can’ and to have the resources for her next step. Because when her business grows, the community gets stronger, the economy develops, and Ukraine becomes stronger,” said Nataliia Hurina.

Raiffeisen Bank supports women’s entrepreneurship through accessible financing, grant programmes, and educational initiatives. In particular, through the Brave programme, 247 businesses in 36 communities have received support, and more than 10 thousand women have taken part in programmes run by its partner U&WE HUB. The Bank has also joined the WEPs and the WE Finance Code Ukraine, strengthening its support for women’s leadership and for women entrepreneurs’ access to financing.