The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is considering a portfolio of projects in Ukraine for possible implementation in the amount of $155 million, including road infrastructure, agribusiness, commercial property, financial facilities, bank’s president Dmytro Pankin said.
In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, he said that in 2021 the bank has updated its trade financing mechanism in the amount of $5 million with Creditwest Bank, and also completed operations to provide a number of loans: $15 million to Interpipe to support the company in the debt capital markets and modernization of production facilities, some $20 million to a chain of furniture shopping centers Araks to improve energy efficiency, some $23 million to Epicenter to improve agricultural infrastructure.
With regard to the project announced in 2020 with Halnaftogaz, Pankin said the bank was successfully cooperating with the company, but, unfortunately, could not agree on the price of the operation announced last summer.
“The bank is ready to consider other opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation with the company in the future,” the BSTDB president said.
He also said the bank is developing financing and placement of securities in local currency in member countries to provide loans in local currency to businesses in these countries. According to him, BSTDB was the first multilateral development bank to offer such operations in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“As for Ukraine, at present the market situation does not allow us to attract local currency by issuing domestic bonds at a cost that would allow us to offer attractive prices for Ukrainian borrowers,” Pankin said.
