Almost 950 jobless people seeking employment actively this year will be trained to open their own business as part of the program "Self-Employment 2014". Each of them will be awarded a grant of nearly 3,000 euros to open a business and additional 1,500 euros provided another person is hired.

Some 3.2 million euros are envisaged for this measure in the Government's program for 2014, according to Deputy PM for economic affairs Vladimir Pesevski.

On Friday, Pesevski at the Employment Agency addressed a training on entrepreneurship and business planning, thus officially kicking off this year's series of self-employment trainings.

Participants in the four-day training will learn how to run a business and accounting, how to conceive a business idea and develop a business plan.

"This is one of the projects that is especially supported and promoted by the Government. A total of 5,835 micro businesses were formed between 2007 and 2013 through the self-employment program indicating that progress has been made to reduce the unemployment rate. We are particularly pleased with the sustainability rate of open businesses, which stands at nearly 75%," stated Pesevski.

The fact that 25% of opened small enterprises create additional jobs and that one in four enterprises is founded by a person under the age of 27 is an additional motivation for the Government to continue increasing its support for the program, according to him.

About 1,500 people last year attended entrepreneurship trainings within the program. The best 930 business plans were financially supported for firm registration and procurement of equipment and materials up to 3,000 euros.

The self-employment program is realized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Employment Agency, the Entrepreneurship Promotion agency and the UNDP.