COVID-19 has triggered an economic and public health crisis that has had a particularly severe effect on informal businesses and workers in the Easter Partner countries and Central Asia, regions where they have historically represented a large share of economic activity. The informal sector has previously acted as a sort of social buffer in times of crisis and has been a source of resilience for many precarious workers in transition economies. For many in the region, informal economic activity has provided subsistence revenues, flexible arrangements and opportunities for vulnerable workers and businesses alike. COVID-19 is different. Many of the key arenas for informal work were among the first to be hit by the crisis: governments had to close market places and implement strict containment and social distancing measures. Many informal workers were left with nothing to fall back on. Migrants had to return home or remain without work in their countries of destination, often with a loss of income in both cases. This had a significant impact on those of the region’s economies that are heavily reliant on remittances. In addition, most government support programmes in the region focused on the formal sector, leaving the informal sector with little or no support. This Policy Note looks at the impact of the crisis on those who make their living in the informal economy in the region and discusses how governments can address the short-term effects of COVID-19 on the informal sector and build on this crisis response to advance business formalisation over the long term. This Note offers a comprehensive approach to firm formalisation and contributes to a long-standing conversation on the informal economy with Eurasia governments, the private sector and international partners that ultimately calls for careful and tailored policy design, experiments and implementation.