The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) has become a new shareholder of Bank Lviv, which operates mainly in the western region of Ukraine, with a 13.94% stake in the charter capital.
“With this investment, Bank Lviv continues to be a 100% foreign-owned bank. The largest shareholders are the Swiss responsAbility (48.56%) and Margeir Petursson (Iceland, 37.47%).
“We are happy to welcome NEFCO to Bank Lviv as a shareholder. Besides the investment, NEFCO will help strengthen Bank Lviv’s focus on sustainable environmental and social finance. Our international shareholders believe in Ukraine and seek a positive impact through direct investments in the bank’s capital. I am certain that NEFCO’s experience and expertise in green financing will support Bank Lviv’s development as a modern and sustainable bank,” Ashot Abrahamyan, the chairperson of the Bank Lviv management board, said.
“Bank Lviv’s strategy, our previous cooperation and the engagement and ownership of other professional impact investors encouraged us to invest in the bank. NEFCO and Bank Lviv share the same goal of accelerating the green transition and we believe that our participation will help the bank achieve its goals of sustainable and responsible banking. Bank Lviv is close to its customers, provides good service and aims to promote sustainable businesses practices and make a positive impact on the economy. The bank’s sustainable growth potential motivates us, and we are looking forward to continuing our cooperation with the Bank Lviv team,” Thor Thorsteinsson, the Vice President for Nordic SMEs at NEFCO, said.
“Bank Lviv is one of the fastest growing banks in Western Ukraine, and the leading micro and SME lender in the region. During last three years, the bank’s loans increased by 45% and deposits by 30% annually. One of the top 30 banks in Ukraine, Bank Lviv operates through 19 branches in Western Ukraine and Kyiv,” the report says.
“NEFCO, the Nordic Green Bank, is an international financial institution that finances the initial scale-up of Nordic green solutions on global markets. Founded in 1990 by the five Nordic countries, NEFCO has already financed and implemented over 1,500 projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean water and sanitation, waste management, and cleaner industrial processes, among others. We serve the interests of our owners, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and work with concrete actions to accelerate the green transition,” according to the document.
The Ministry of Health expects a third fewer deaths from COVID-19 at the peak of the Omicron wave compared to the peak of Delta, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said during an hour of questions to the government in the Verkhovna Rada.
He also predicts that at peak times, the number of COVID-19 cases per day can reach 40,000-60,000 people.
According to the minister, Ukraine will reach the peak load on COVID-19 in the coming weeks, while he stressed that the country’s medical system is able to withstand the load associated with an increase in the incidence.
“The medical system of Ukraine has withstood the load of 34,000 cases per day,” he stressed.
As reported, at the peak of the Delta wave in the first half of November, the average number of deaths per week reached 680
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested EUR1 billion in the Ukrainian economy in 2021, bringing its three-year investment in the country to EUR3 billion.
“True to its ambition to become a majority green bank by 2025, some 45% of bank financing in Ukraine was in support of greater sustainability and energy and resource efficiency. Examples included a EUR140 million EBRD loan to modernize district heating and hot water supply in the capital, Kyiv, and a EUR50 million loan for Kyiv to renew the rolling stock of its metro network and support the shift from private cars to modern, efficient and environmentally friendly public transport,” the bank said.
“The bank also attracted a EUR5.5 million grant from the E5P to complement an earlier EUR25 million loan to refurbish, for greater energy efficiency, about 100 public buildings in Dnipro. Dnipro and Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv decided to accelerate their investment in green solutions by joining EBRD Green Cities, a flagship urban sustainability program, following in the footsteps of Lviv, Kyiv, Mariupol, Khmelnytsky and Kryvy Rih. Ukraine has more cities taking part in the program than any other economy in which the EBRD invests,” the report says.
“In the private sector, the bank teamed up with Kernel Group to help strengthen the company’s climate corporate governance. It is also supported the development of low-emission sustainable property by backing the real-estate portfolio of Dragon Capital, an investment firm,” according to the document.
“The bank joined forces with the European Union in extending grants to innovative Ukrainian firms seeking to improve climate resilience. The beneficiaries included a producer of recycled plastic The Good Plastic Company, architecture studio Ekodar, yeast producer Enzym, engineering firm Dominion, water and rainwater management company Viva Victoria and The Laboratory of Advanced Jet Propulsion, an institution focused on rocket and spacecraft technologies,” it says.
“The EBRD’s efforts to advance the sustainability of Ukraine’s economy were encouraged by the country’s newly reviewed Nationally Determined Contribution. The EBRD helped to develop the policy document and stands ready to help set out a low-carbon and climate-resilient pathway for the power generation sector in Ukraine,” the bank noted.
“In addition, the EBRD invested $ 75 million in a $825 million eurobond placed by Ukrenergo, the state-owned electricity transmission system operator, in a bid to resolve the payments crisis gripping the country’s renewable energy sector. The first ever sustainability-linked bond issued by a Ukrainian company, it helped restore the credibility of the Ukrainian renewable energy sector, paving the way for much-needed investment to support the country’s green transition. In the infrastructure sector, the EBRD approved a new EUR190 million loan tranche for further improvements to the country’s roads. This follows efforts by Ukravtodor and the Ukrainian authorities to implement a comprehensive anti-corruption program,” it says.
“This is part of the EBRD’s broader work to promote corporate governance reform in state-owned enterprises and to strengthen their supervisory boards. In a further move to promote greater private-sector participation in the development of infrastructure, the bank joined forces with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on a new advisory engagement with the Ministry of Infrastructure to help structure private-public partnerships in the road sector and to prepare the concession of selected terminals at Chornomorsk port,” it reads.
“Standing by its long-time partner, the city of Lviv, the bank provided emergency funds to ensure that the vital infrastructure is safe and functioning during the ongoing pandemic. As social distancing measures remained in place, the EBRD supported companies that facilitated remote entrepreneurship and helped people to stay in touch, such as state-owned postal service Ukrposhta and its privately owned peer, Nova Poshta, as well as Datagroup, a provider of fibre infrastructure and digital services,” the report states.
“Recognizing the importance of better access to credit and trade finance, the EBRD channeled EUR357 million to seven local lenders: Ukrgasbank, Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, Ukreximbank, OTP Bank, ProCredit Bank, Credit Agricole and Bank Lviv. Backed by EU investment incentives, the bank increased lending for small and medium-sized enterprises via partner banks under the EU4Business-EBRD credit line,” it reads.
“It also delivered record volumes of trade finance as part of the Trade Facilitation Program. Furthermore, the bank financed successful Ukrainian companies such as car importer Winner, Kokhavynska Paper Factory and gas trader ERU Trading. It also teamed up with USAID and the American Chamber of Commerce to develop an action plan for the consolidation of infrastructure for the capital and commodities markets,” according to the bank.
Creative States office solutions service company plans to open new locations in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv in 2022, doubling the total area of office space to 30,000 sq m, the press service of the company told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“We continue to scale Creative States in Ukraine. Five locations, more than 15,000 sq m and 2,500 residents. We are ready to “double” because we see from the response of tenants that the format of flexible offices, service support and access to the community remains the most in demand on today,” Creative States CEO and founder Ilia Kenigshtein said.
The first of the openings of 2022 was the finalized second building of Arsenal with a total area of more than 2,500 square meters, designed for 500 residents.
The company recalled that in October 2021, the first floor of the facility was launched with the format of business studios designed for teams of up to 15 people and with a separate entrance to them from the internal Mardi Gras square. In January, the rest of the office infrastructure was launched: fixed offices (32), a hot-desk zone, meeting rooms (8) and skype rooms (12), business suites (6) and executive suites for teams. In addition, in the second Arsenal residents have access to a special noir room for relaxation with ambient music, completely isolated from extraneous noise. There are also common areas: an enlarged kitchen with appliances and services of a chef, bathrooms with showers, a children’s room, a lounge with a bar, and a two-level parking lot.
The total footage of the entire Creative States office complex at Arsenal has reached 10,000 square meters, including two separate architectural objects and the internal Mardi Gras square. This is a fully equipped office and lifestyle infrastructure designed for more than 1,200 residents. In the near future, the company plans to continue expanding this facility and increase it by another 300 seats.
Creative States positions itself as a network of premium class flexible workspaces with a full range of operational services. Today, the network includes three locations in the capital: in the Senator business center, the Gulliver business center, Creative States of Arsenal, and Creative State of Dnipro in Dnipro. In May 2021, Creative States presented a franchise aimed at both Ukrainian million-plus cities and the West.
Communal enterprise Elektroavtotrans (Ivano-Frankivsk), together with the European Investment Bank (EIB), has announced a tender for the purchase of new trolleybuses with a possibility of making at least 10 km in off-wire mode with a length of 16.5 meters to 18.54 meters (articulated) for EUR 3.615 million.
According to the procurement announcement posted in ProZorro, it is planned to supply new low-floor dual-mode trolleybuses of a three-axle model with a width of no more than 2.5 meters excluding side mirrors and a height of no more than 3.8 meters. Total passenger capacity is at least 120 people, the number of seats is 38, including four seats for priority category passenger and the number of places for wheelchair is at least one.
The procurement also includes spare parts, maintenance equipment and related services.
The first delivery of the dual-mode trolleybuses is scheduled for no later than 36 weeks from the date of receipt of the advance payment, the execution of the contract is no later than 56 weeks.
According to the announcement, price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents.
The time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is until March 16, 2022.
The trolleybuses for Ivano-Frankivsk are procured within the framework of the Ukraine Urban Public Transport Project at the expense of the EIB and a grant from the European Union.
According to local media reports, the city planned to purchase at least eight dual-mode electric buses for these funds.
The Ukraine Urban Public Transport Project is a financial agreement between Ukraine and the EIB, ratified in April 2017. It provides for the implementation of 21 subprojects for the development of urban passenger transport in 11 cities.
