The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and OTP Leasing, the largest company in the Ukrainian market, have announced the launch of a EUR50 million risk sharing facility (RSF) to increase financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as mid-cap companies in Ukraine for energy and energy efficiency needs.
“This initiative aims to finance sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, trade, energy, and logistics, focusing primarily on sustainable energy solutions that enhance Ukraine’s energy resilience,” the IFC said in a press release on Friday.
Under the RSF, the IFC will assume up to 50% of the credit risk for a maximum amount of EUR 25 million. The project’s 10% capital cost compensation mechanism (up to a total of EUR 6 million) will encourage lessees to choose sustainable solutions over more polluting alternatives.
It is noted that against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion and high risk, private sector lending has declined, with corporate lending falling from 12.8% of GDP in 2021 to 9.2% of GDP in 2024, while the leasing sector, as a critical alternative to lending, contracted by 59.4% in 2022 and has only partially recovered thanks to support from the state and assistance from international development finance institutions.
In addition, since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has lost almost two-thirds of its power generation capacity, highlighting the need for decentralized and sustainable energy systems.
“Thanks to the current RSF, OTP Leasing will be able to offer more leasing deals to traditionally underfinanced SMEs and mid-caps in Ukraine that prioritize small-scale renewable energy generation and energy-efficient sustainable projects, particularly climate-smart agriculture and green transport,” the IFC noted.
IFC’s participation in the RSF and the capital cost compensation mechanism are supported by the IFC’s Economic Resilience Action Program (ERA) for Ukraine, funded by the UK Department for International Development with EUR10 million.
Andrew Okenden, the UK’s Chargé d’Affaires in Kyiv, noted that the UK strongly supports Ukraine’s green and sustainable economic recovery, and that this approach reflects the key priorities of the 100-year Partnership Agreement signed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year.
According to IFC Regional Manager for Ukraine Lisa Kestner, the new agreement will increase access to finance for Ukrainian businesses, particularly in critical sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, and logistics. “Our initiative will help businesses invest in sustainable energy solutions such as climate-smart agriculture, small-scale renewable energy generation, and energy efficiency projects,” she emphasized.
Since February 2022, IFC, as part of its Economic Resilience Action Program (ERA) for Ukraine, has provided $2.5 billion in support to Ukraine’s private sector, including $940 million in mobilized financing.
According to IFC, as of March 31, 2025, OTP Leasing had approximately 33.6% of the Ukrainian market share in terms of leasing portfolio ($330.5 million in outstanding lease transactions). The company provides financial leasing and fleet management services to SMEs and mid-caps throughout the country. The company is wholly owned by Hungary’s OTP Bank Plc.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has revoked the license of FC “Fraser” (Kyiv) to operate as a financial company providing funds and bank metals on credit and factoring, according to the NBU website. This decision was made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Services Markets on July 7, 2025.
According to information, in June of this year, the NBU took measures to conduct a scheduled inspection of the aforementioned financial company. When attempting to carry out the inspection, it was established that Frazier FC was not located at the address specified in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations. This made it impossible to conduct the inspection and is grounds for revoking the financial company’s license.
The information emphasizes that, as of July 8, 2025, FC “Fraser” is not authorized to provide financial services (in particular, to conclude new contracts, extend the term of existing contracts, and increase the amount of obligations under them).
FC “Fraser” was registered in March 2018. Its authorized capital is UAH 6.5 million.
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi has been appointed acting head coach of FC Dynamo Kyiv, and will prepare the team for the next matches in the Ukrainian championship.
According to Dynamo’s press service, Emil Karas, Oleh Husyev, and Mykhailo Mykhailov will also work on Shovkovsky’s coaching staff.
Shovkovskyi made his debut with Dynamo Kyiv in March 1994 and became the champion of Ukraine and the team’s main goalkeeper. In October 2016, he received his coaching license, but on December 12, 2016, he announced his retirement. On September 4, 2018, he became an assistant to the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Andriy Shevchenko. 1
On January 10, 2023, Shovkovskyi returned to Dynamo as an assistant head coach. In April 2023, he was appointed acting head coach of the team, for the period of recovery after Mircea Lucescu’s surgery.
As reported, on November 3, Mircea Lucescu resigned as head coach of Dynamo Kyiv and announced his retirement at a press conference after the match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Patrick van Leeuwen have terminated their cooperation, with the club’s sporting director Dario Srna taking over as acting head coach, the club has announced.
“FC Shakhtar officially announces the termination of the contract with head coach Patrick van Leeuwen. Together with the coach, the coaching staff leaves the club,” reads a statement on the club’s official website on Monday.
As noted, van Leeuwen has been in charge of the Pitmen since July 2023. During this time, the team has played 12 official matches. “FC Shakhtar expresses its gratitude to Patrick van Leeuwen and his assistants for their professionalism and wishes them success and victories in the future,” the statement reads.
The team is led by the club’s sporting director Srna, who will reportedly “prepare Shakhtar for the next matches as acting head coach.”
In the 2022/2023 season, the total revenue of FC Shakhtar (including VAT) amounted to UAH 5 billion 992 million including VAT, which is almost 2.8 times higher than the previous season (UAH 2 billion 178 million), according to the annual report published on the club’s official website.
According to the report, the club’s total revenue from the sale and lease of players last season increased to UAH 4 billion 29 million from UAH 622 million a season earlier, while revenues from UEFA and FIFA for participation in the Champions League group stage and for reaching the last 16 of the Europa League increased to UAH 1 billion 606 million from UAH 1 billion 164 million.
The club clarified that last season it made 14 incoming transfers, of which 11 were purchases, 2 were rentals and 1 was a free agent. There were the same number of outgoing transfers, including 5 sales and 9 rentals. The most high-profile transfer was that of midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea London for a record-breaking sum in the history of Ukrainian football: EUR 70 million and another EUR 30 million in bonuses. In addition, Serhiy Kryvtsov joined MLS side Inter Miami.
Shakhtar’s revenues from commercial activities in the 2022/2023 season decreased to UAH 357 million from UAH 392 million in the previous season.
Last season, FC Shakhtar increased its payments to the budgets of all levels by 34.4% compared to the 2021/22 season, up to UAH 566.9 million.
Among the events in the report is the extension of cooperation with the BRSM-Nafta network for 2023 and the termination of cooperation with the club’s title partner Parimatch due to its inclusion in the sanctions lists.
It is specified that the number of subscriptions to the club’s social media pages has increased by almost 5% to 3.15 million. The most popular are Facebook (1.41 million) and Instagram (544.4 thousand, +5.2%), while the largest influx was recorded on TikTok – 61 thousand, or 75%, and on Twitter – 24.5 thousand, or 24.7%.
Shakhtar’s website is available in four languages: Ukrainian, English, Polish and German. Last season, it was visited by 1.07 million unique users.
Shakhtar Donetsk have beaten Rennes on penalties to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
The main time ended 1-0 in favour of the French team, with Shakhtar winning the first leg by the same score.
In extra time, the teams traded goals with Rennes netting on 119 minutes. And then the Pitmen’s goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin managed to put away three penalties in the penalty shoot-out to lift the Ukrainian team into the 1/8 tournament.
