On Friday 24 February, the first anniversary of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, the European Innovation Council (EIC) took stock of its support for Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises.
The EIC says the results of the €20 million call for proposals (see EUROPE 12968/29) will be announced in March. Twelve eligible proposals were submitted. The evaluation took place in the last quarter of 2022.
The EIC points out that in addition to these calls, which are specifically for Ukrainian companies, Ukrainian organisations applied for and received EIC funding in 2021 and 2022.
For the three-stage application process under the EIC Accelerator, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) received 31 applications from Ukrainian organisations in the first stage and seven full applications from five Ukrainian applicants in the second stage. The final stage, the interviews, is underway.
Under the EIC Pathfinder programme, four projects out of 45 Ukrainian applications will be funded. A Ukrainian research institute has been invited to join an ongoing EIC Pathfinder project under the first call of the “HopOn” facility.
EISMEA has announced that two specific actions will be launched soon to support Ukrainian SMEs. These actions should allow for the selection of international consortia, including Ukrainian candidates, to help Ukrainians benefit from the single market. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)