The Policy of Heroes – A New Philosophy of Veteran Business

Abstract

The article highlights a new approach in the field of veteran business, which is called the «policy of heroes» and is the quintessence of the new Ukrainian doctrine, that is, a new vision and philosophy of what a successful Ukraine should be like after the victory. The article discusses the institutional and regulatory tendencies and empirical trends of the veteran entrepreneurial community and the role played by veterans in the development of modern Ukrainian society in general and business in particular. The general trends of veteran business are typologized, the key role of modern grant instruments of the State support (assistance) in the formation of a common mental space between society and veterans for their speedy reintegration into economic life, ensuring their full participation in the creation of the economic front of the State is substantiated. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of the russian-Ukrainian war on the dynamics of the formation of the veteran community, to carry out a typology of key challenges and, on their basis, a substantiation of the need for further strategizing of individualized and comprehensive reintegration of veterans into civilian life in order to ensure their successful and sustainable adaptation to the new socioeconomic realities of doing business. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the study of the «policy of heroes» in the paradigm of the new Ukrainian doctrine as a new phenomenon in the architecture of the institution of veteran business, its conceptualization through the prism of endo- and exogenous threats (risks) generated by the russian-Ukrainian war in the institutional and regulatory coordinates of adaptation of veterans to starting and running a business, including in rural areas. The article proves that the «policy of heroes» of the new Ukrainian doctrine strategizes and determines the vector of further institutional and regulatory progress in the system of the State incentives for business reintegration of veterans into civilian life. It is proved that the experience gained by veterans during their service in the institutional centers of the Security and Defense Forces forms unorthodox contours of anti-crisis inertia during both the initiation and further functioning of veteran business under the legal regime of martial law, providing the development process with signs of sustainability and predictability, taking into account the post-war context of the reconstruction of the national economy and the directives of the Ukraine Facility Plan for 2024–2027. This is fostered by the modernization and Europeanization by the State of tools to support veteran business through the system of grants. This system actually «stitches» the vision of the President of Ukraine regarding the «policy of heroes» declared in the vision of the new Ukrainian doctrine, with the current and future needs of veterans and the capabilities of the State, which, in particular, are determined by the need to accelerate the process of reintegration of veterans into public life.