More than 800 veterans of the special military operation and their family members from dozens of regions will participate in the "SVOy Business" program by the end of the year.

      26 September 2025, 16:46 Economy

      In 2025, more than 800 veterans of the special military operation (SMO) and their family members from over 40 regions of the country will take part in the federal entrepreneurship program "SVOy Business", initiated by the United Russia party, Opora Russia and the SME Corporation. In the first six months of the project's implementation, more than 370 SMO veterans and their family members have already completed special intensives. As a result, 43% of them have opened or continued to develop their businesses.

      The interim results of the joint work on implementing the program were discussed at a tripartite meeting by First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on SMEs and coordinator of the United Russia party's federal project "Entrepreneurship" Alfiya Kogogina, CEO of the SME Corporation Alexander Isaevich, and President of Opora Russia Alexander Kalinin.

      "Supporting participants of the special military operation and their family members is one of the most important tasks of state policy and public work. Now it is our turn to be a support for veterans and help them implement initiatives in various areas of their activities, including entrepreneurship. The main objective of the 'SVOy Business' program is to help SMO veterans and their relatives dare to start their own business and believe in themselves. To that end, we provide basic entrepreneurial skills, show how to use all available government support tools and, which is especially important, we will not allow them to stumble. Experienced mentors will always be nearby," said Alfiya Kogogina, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on SMEs and coordinator of the United Russia party's federal project "Entrepreneurship".

      In six months the "SVOy Business" program has already been held in 17 regions of Russia. 372 participants completed special trainings, worked through concepts for launching and developing their own businesses with experienced mentors, and discussed their ideas with relevant experts from regional and federal authorities. Each intensive concluded with project defenses that will form the basis for starting or developing their businesses. Recall that Nizhny Novgorod Oblast became the tenth region where the modular training program "SVOy Business" was held. Some participants have already shared project results. For example, the wife of an SMO participant, Anzhelika Vedeneeva, presented an updated concept for her small culinary enterprise, and Irina Sharkova, wife of another SMO participant and a certified international coach, is actively conducting individual consultations and group trainings. In the project she developed a new direction: adapting SMO participants and their family members to the "new" world and finding themselves and their vocation.

      "The 'SVOy Business' program is not just about teaching entrepreneurship; it's about trust and confidence in the future for those who defended the Motherland and their families. It is important that the project helps veterans not only acquire new knowledge, but also obtain practical tools for launching and developing their own businesses, and feel real support from mentors and the state. Every opened business is both a personal success story and a contribution to regional and national economic development. Today we see that the program is already delivering results, and I am confident that there will be even more examples of how our defenders can realize themselves in the entrepreneurial sphere," said regional coordinator of the federal party project "Entrepreneurship" Olga Nikitina.

      Supporting participants of the special military operation and their family members is a priority area of the party's work and one of the main points of United Russia's people's program. This initiative underlines the party's unwavering commitment to providing comprehensive assistance and support to those who defend the country's interests.

      "We see high interest in the project both from participants and from regional administrations. In six months the 'SVOy Business' program has taken place in 17 regions of Russia — in each of them the regional branches of Opora Russia have become a reliable 'shoulder' for participants of the special operation and their family members. In practice they help our heroes unlock their entrepreneurial potential, conduct business visits to enterprises, help formalize their ideas and developments into a full-fledged business plan, and then, together with Opora Russia mentors, proceed to implement them. The 'SVOy Business' program is an investment in the future of those who defend and uphold our country's interests. Already now we see results — program graduates are becoming entrepreneurs," emphasized Opora Russia President Alexander Kalinin.

      The first six months of the "SVOy Business" project showed that 29% of participants want to start businesses in trade or motor vehicle repair, 12% plan to engage in professional and scientific-technical activities, 10% each are drawn to manufacturing and construction, and 8% are attracted to the tourism sector.

      "We launched the 'SVOy Business' project in March this year to support SMO veterans and their family members, help them adapt to civilian life, and open up new directions where they could realize their potential. Now we are summing up the first interim results. This is an important moment that allows us to assess the program's effectiveness and fine-tune it based on participant feedback. The first results showed that 38% of participants already have their own business when they come to the program, and in our project they receive knowledge and tools for its development. The rest have never had entrepreneurial experience and are only planning their first steps. When we evaluate dynamics in the SME sector by new business openings or by moves from lower to higher categories, we usually take annual intervals because business needs time. But based on the program's results we already see that 5% of participants have opened a new business or switched to a new form of doing business," noted CEO of the SME Corporation Alexander Isaevich.

      Within the "SVOy Business" project participants receive not only theoretical foundations in entrepreneurship but also practical tools for launching and developing businesses, including information on existing financial support measures.

      In particular, the SME Corporation, together with regional guarantee organizations, provides joint guarantees to SMO veterans that cover up to 90% when obtaining loans from state microfinance organizations and bank loans of up to 50 million rubles.

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