Ukraine’s greenhouse construction grants run on EU money through the Ukraine Facility, and applications have been open since February 2, 2026. A June 16 announcement from the Ministry of Economy says the grant covers no more than 70 percent of project cost. The cabinet resolution that governs the program says up to 50 percent. On the largest project size, that gap is 1.4 million hryvnia of the applicant’s own money, about $31,300.
What the resolution says
The program sits inside Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 738 of June 21, 2022, amended 34 times since, most recently on May 20, 2026. Paragraph 5 of the greenhouse rules currently reads in the version set by Resolution No. 503 of April 22, 2026: up to 50 percent of the project cost from the grant, and no less than 50 percent from the recipient, whether own funds or borrowed.
The number 70 appears nowhere in the rules. I checked every instance of the word “percent” in the current consolidated text: it returns 50, 80, 20 and 25. The redaction in force before April 2026 also said 50, so the June figure cannot be explained as a stale quote of an older version.
Three versions on one government site
As of September 22, 2026, me.gov.ua carries three descriptions of the same rule.
- February 4, 2026, Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi on the opening of applications: up to 50 percent, and up to 80 percent for frontline areas. This matches the resolution.
- June 16, 2026, the disbursement update: up to 7 million hryvnia per site “but no more than 70 percent of project cost,” with up to 80 percent for businesses in deoccupied and frontline areas. This does not match.
- The standing “Grant conditions” page that an applicant actually reads: 50 percent, but alongside the phrase “for the construction of 1,000 modular greenhouses,” which Resolution No. 503 deleted five months ago.
The June sentence carries a second error. The higher share in the resolution attaches to territories of possible or active hostilities, and to holdings where 80 percent or more of the land sits in temporarily occupied territory. Deoccupied areas are not among the listed grounds, although the announcement names them.
What 20 percentage points cost an applicant
Maximum grant size is tied to greenhouse footprint. Under 50-50 cofinancing, each band also fixes the total project budget.
| Footprint | Grant up to | Project at 50% | Own funds per resolution | Own funds if 70% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.4-0.6 ha (1.0-1.5 acres) | $44,700 | $89,500 | $44,700 | $26,800 |
| 0.8-1.2 ha (2.0-3.0 acres) | $78,300 | $156,600 | $78,300 | $47,000 |
| 1.6-2.4 ha (4.0-5.9 acres) | $156,600 | $313,100 | $156,600 | $94,000 |
Converted at the National Bank of Ukraine rate of 44.7071 hryvnia to the dollar on September 22, 2026. The shortfall in the right-hand columns runs from $17,900 to $62,600. The recipient’s share has to land in the bank account within 30 calendar days, a condition stated on the same ministry page, so anyone who budgeted from the June announcement has a month to find the difference.
The 1,000-greenhouse target is gone
Comparing the two redactions of the rules turns up changes the ministry did not announce.
Paragraph 5 used to read “grants are provided for the construction of 1,000 modular greenhouses.” It now reads “for the construction of modular greenhouses.” Annex 1 went with it: a table splitting those 1,000 greenhouses across 24 regions, 143 for Kyiv oblast, 95 for Dnipropetrovsk, 75 for Lviv, 8 for Luhansk. Regional quotas no longer exist.
The ministry’s own disbursement figures show why. In four and a quarter years the program has paid 112 greenhouse grants worth 604 million hryvnia, about $13.5 million. That is 11.2 percent of the target, at a pace of 26 greenhouses a year. The remaining 888 would take 34 years at that rate.
Resolution No. 503 also introduced a conflict over resale. Paragraph 16 says that when a greenhouse is sold, the obligations pass to the new owner, who signs an equivalent contract with the ministry. A new clause in paragraph 17 says a recipient who disposes of the greenhouse within three years of project completion must return the grant funds received. Both provisions are in force.
Three years of payroll against the grant
Paragraph 4 requires at least four permanent and 10 seasonal jobs per hectare, seasonal staff employed at least eight months a year, everyone full time and at no less than the statutory minimum wage. Paragraph 16 adds three years of mandatory operation after construction ends. Since September 22 an owned greenhouse in the Kyiv region can also be signed up for Ukraine’s state compensation for property destroyed by strikes, as long as that happens before the damage.
Ukraine’s minimum wage from January 1, 2026 is 8,647 hryvnia a month, about $193. One hectare therefore carries 128 person-months a year, or 1,106,816 hryvnia of payroll at the legal floor before any taxes or social contributions.
| Footprint | Grant up to | Grant per sq ft | Payroll over 3 years | Share of grant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.4 ha | $44,700 | $1.04 | $29,700 | 66% |
| 0.6 ha | $44,700 | $0.69 | $44,600 | 100% |
| 0.8 ha | $78,300 | $0.91 | $59,400 | 76% |
| 1.2 ha | $78,300 | $0.61 | $89,100 | 114% |
| 1.6 ha | $156,600 | $0.91 | $118,800 | 76% |
| 2.4 ha | $156,600 | $0.61 | $178,300 | 114% |
The bottom of each band wins twice: more grant per square foot, and fewer mandatory jobs. A 1.6-hectare greenhouse takes the same $156,600 as a 2.4-hectare one while hiring 44 fewer person-months a year. Over the three obligatory years that difference is about $59,400 in wages.
Two gaps sit between the bands. Permitted area runs from 0.4 to 2.4 hectares, but maximum grant is defined only for 0.4-0.6, 0.8-1.2 and 1.6-2.4. A greenhouse of 0.7 or 1.4 hectares has no figure in paragraph 4.
Who the program leaves out
The floor is 0.4 hectares, about 43,000 square feet. Below that nothing is funded at all. With mandatory cofinancing, the entry ticket is $44,700 of own or borrowed money. Anyone growing baby leaf or microgreens on racks is excluded by footprint regardless of revenue.
The 2026 allocation for greenhouses is 220 million hryvnia, about $4.9 million. By June 15 the ministry had approved 126.5 million of it, 57.5 percent of the year’s money in four and a half months. At the 2026 average decision of 6.3 million hryvnia, the remainder covers roughly 15 more greenhouses.
For anyone preparing an application, the operative text is the resolution on zakon.rada.gov.ua rather than the ministry’s summary page. Estimates submitted through the Diia portal cannot be amended afterward, and the arithmetic has to run on 50 percent. The program reopened in February.
