19.05.2011
YBR: Voronezh will become the role model for other regions
On May 19, 2011, in the conference hall of the Voronezh State University the presentation of the results of the two years implementation of the Youth Business Russia Programme in the Voronezh Region took place paired with the enlarged session of the Programme Members Club and the Supervisory Board session. The results of the programme implementation as of May 2011 are as follows: the young entrepreneurs have been extended the loans of 6,851,000 roubles, there have been 191 new jobs created and support was given to 104 dependents of the young entrepreneurs and their employees.
The event was held in order to discuss the achievements and prospects of the programme development in the Voronezh Region, extend the partnership and improve its efficiency within the framework of the YBR, as well as to promote the programme within the region. There were starting young entrepreneurs, their mentors, representatives of the partner entities, members of the Selection Panel and the Supervisory Board, and mass-media present among the event participants, all numbering more than 50 persons.
Alexander Goshko, Deputy Head of the Department for Entrepreneurship and Consumer Market Development, welcomed the participants of the presentation underlining the importance of the programme for the youth and for development of the region.
Boris Tkachenko, Head of the Branch Office in Russia of the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and the Youth Business Russia Programme Manager, told of the international component of the programme worldwide, its principles and tasks, as well as about its development in other Russian regions. He reported that for the recent year two more regions had joined the programme — Primorsky Krai and the Novosibirsk Region. According to Boris Tkachenko, Voronezh will become the role model for other regions regarding the issues of the mentorship setting up, as well as will be taken as an example of a success story of cooperation with the State Fund for Entrepreneurship Support.
Yury Lavlinskiy, Head of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund for the Voronezh Region, presented the two year results of the programme achieved in the course of its implementation in Voronezh. There have been 48 projects supported and 21 rejected within the frameworks of the program. The average age of the participants accounts for 28-29 years. The following types of businesses have received the support: 11 production sites, 4 agricultural businesses, 23 service industry enterprises, 10 commercial enterprises. The major part of the participants possessed the entrepreneurship experience of less than one year, and 10 starting entrepreneurs did not have any experience in that field. “To my opinion, the YBR Programme is aimed at offering tailored solutions rather than mass-market products”, underlined Yury Lavlinskiy.
Irina Babushkina, Head of the Follow-Up Department of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund for the Voronezh Region and YBR Program Loans Coordinator, noted that “the programme’s objective and aim is providing of targeted support to those who embraces the concept of the programme and knows what he or she wants”. She particularly noted that it was very interesting to work with the young entrepreneurs at the stage of evaluation and implementation of their ideas.
Irina Gorelova, Youth Business Russia Programme Coordinator for the Voronezh Region, remarked that “there have been 19 Expert Council sessions and 7 seminars for the mentors and young entrepreneurs held within these two years. The young entrepreneurs mostly live in the districts of the Voronezh Region. In order to share the experience of interaction with the entrepreneurs-mentees the YBR Programme Mentors Council in Voronezh Region met twice, and today it is already the fourth session of the Programme Members Club being held. Among the Club’s results one can mention introductions, sharing of business contacts, establishing of mutually beneficial cooperation, and discussion of new development lines within the frameworks of the programme”.
Yury Segal, member of the Experts Council and the programme mentor, told about his experience of holding of the training courses of improvement of the financial competence and proposed introduction of tax optimization for the entrepreneurship.
Tatiana Goncharova, Chairperson of the Board of VOOO (Voronezh Regional Community-Based Organization) Entrepreneurs’ Union, member of the Steering Committee (SC) of the Program, drew the participants’ attention to the future of the program and the necessity to develop more up-to-date types of businesses, as well as to the importance of the discussions addressing the questions like “what types of businesses namely does the region need?”, and “how could one support them?”.
Andrey Zhivotyagin, member of the Steering Committee (SC) of the Programme and Head of the Direction for Organisation of Work with the Youth, the Urban District Administration of the City of Voronezh, noted: “It happens to be that to become an entrepreneur is the sole solution for those who fails to find a job. It would be great if we could arrange a research analyzing what are the real needs of an entrepreneur now”.
Valentina Buchina, Head of OGU (Regional State Institution) Voronezh Regional Recourses Centre, member of the SC, told about the involvement of the Resource Centre in the Programme and pointed out that “90 % of success accounts for the environment created by the YBR itself”.
Alexander Isaenko, Deputy Chairperson of the Central-Chernozemny Bank of Sberbank of Russia, mentioned the need for the market analysis in order to shape the offers (financial products) taking into account the further development directions (needs of the real business).
Marina Samartseva, Director of OOO Financial Services and Consulting Centre, a business coach, underlined the importance of selecting of appropriate training for implementation of the existing good projects and transition from the concept level to the implementation one. “It is required to arrange the intercommunication sites for young entrepreneurs”, believes Marina Samartseva.
Victor Glushkov, Manager for Small Business Development Officer, Oxfam (British non-governmental non-profit organization), mentioned the importance of cooperation between the partner entities in the program.
Anatoly Sherman, Chairperson of the Board of VOOO Entrepreneur, member of the SC, believes that it its required “to help the entrepreneur to shape the idea, but it is he or she to understand what he or she wants to do”. He also complained about the underdeveloped information space and proposed creation of a special project aimed at communicating of the information on the programs supporting small businesses to the widest strata of the population.
Irina Kosmatykh, Head for the Ramon Municipal Fund for the Small Businesses Support, ANO (Autonomous Non-Profit Organization) Ramon District Centre for Entrepreneurship Support, and young entrepreneurs’ mentor, noted that “the young entrepreneurs need to be taught not only how to start up, but also how to develop further, and these events are held to work out the strategic solutions addressing the problems of the entrepreneurship”.
Within the frameworks of the presentation the following young entrepreneurs participating in the programme spoke: Sergey Poshvin, Oxana Fedosova, Daniil Kruglikov, Igor Zaboev, and Veronika Naumenko, who shared their experience of participating in the programme and made suggestions on its further development.
