As of now, Oschadbank has signed loan agreements in the energy sector totaling 11 billion UAH, which is more than 1.5 times the amount for all of 2025, when such agreements totaled 6.77 billion UAH, said Yuriy Katsion, Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank.
“Investors in the energy sector can still be called the biggest optimists in the country today. It is they who, despite all the risks, are investing in the country’s future. Lending trends confirm growing business interest in this sector: while Oschadbank concluded energy sector loan agreements totaling 6.77 billion hryvnias for the entire year of 2025, their volume reached 11 billion hryvnias in 2026,” said Katsion during the first annual forum of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association, UKRAINE RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENDA 2027, which took place recently in Kyiv.
According to him, these figures demonstrate the business community’s readiness to invest in the country’s energy independence and implement long-term projects.
As Oschadbank clarified in a press release following the forum, of the total volume of loan agreements concluded by Oschadbank to finance the energy sector in 2026, 8.83 billion UAH went to corporate clients, and another 1.94 billion UAH went to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses. At the same time, half of the agreements in the MSME segment were concluded with the support of government and international programs. For comparison: in 2025, the volume of loan agreements in the energy sector amounted to 5.64 billion UAH for large corporate clients and 1.13 billion UAH for MSMEs.
At the forum, Katsion noted that for certain projects, the payback period can now be as short as three years, which increases the investment attractiveness of the energy sector and encourages businesses to invest more actively in new capacity.
At the same time, he noted that a key factor for continued growth in energy lending will be the reduction of the corporate income tax rate for banks to at least 25%, down from the current 50%.
According to the banker, such a high tax rate critically affects capital adequacy and limits the banking system’s ability to lend to the real economy.
The chairman of Oschadbank’s board identified forecasting medium- and long-term electricity prices as one of the key challenges for further attracting investment; therefore, insurance and hedging instruments for price risks should also become an important area of market development.
At the same time, Katsion noted that the bank has been granted the status of an active electricity consumer and is developing its own energy consumption management system.
As he told reporters on the sidelines, the entire branch network is equipped with inverters and battery systems that provide at least four hours of autonomous operation, and in most cases, up to eight hours.
Automated commercial electricity metering systems (ASKOE) have also been installed in branches and regional offices.
To manage this infrastructure, Oschadbank has established its own control center, which, among other things, tracks hourly electricity prices and determines the optimal times for charging and discharging the battery systems. According to him, this not only ensures the uninterrupted operation of the bank’s network during power outages but also generates economic benefits through optimized energy consumption.
