Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Ferrexpo Secures $15 Mln Loan from Zhevago’s Company

Ferrexpo, a mining company with its main assets in Ukraine, has secured a $15 million credit line from Fevamotinico SaRL, a company owned by Minco Trust, whose ultimate beneficiary is businessman Konstantin Zhevago.

According to a stock exchange announcement, Ferrexpo plc has entered into a loan agreement with its largest shareholder, Fevamotinico, which will provide an unsecured credit line in the principal amount of $15 million.

The purpose of the loan is to provide the company with immediate access to liquidity until the completion of the capital raising process totaling approximately $100 million, as announced on September 4, 2026, as well as to support working capital needs and production operations, which resumed on September 7. The loan effectively serves as an advance payment of a portion (approximately $40 million) of the funds that Fevamotinico has committed to contribute as part of the capital raising.

It is specified that interest on the loan is accrued at a rate of 9.75% per annum; the maturity date is 12 months after the date the funds are disbursed. Repayment of the loan, together with accrued interest, will be made by offsetting the amounts that Fevamotinico is required to pay to Ferrexpo under the share subscription agreement following the company’s listing. This loan is subordinated; therefore, claims under it will be satisfied after the claims of the company’s existing unsecured creditors.

If the general meeting to be held on September 21, 2026, does not approve the capital raise or if the placement agreement is terminated, the company may decide to repay the loan by issuing new common shares at the placement price (or, if the fair market value is lower than the placement price, at such lower price as agreed upon by the company and Fevamotinico), subject to compliance with all legal or regulatory requirements regarding such issuance of shares, including obtaining prior approval from independent shareholders.

In addition, as long as the loan remains outstanding, the loan agreement restricts the group members’ ability to raise debt or provide collateral for obligations, except for those falling within specified permitted categories (in particular, a potential credit line to finance trade transactions, as well as certain agreements entered into in the ordinary course of business or between group companies) .

The terms of the loan provide for certain standard events of default that entitle Fevamotinico to demand early repayment of the loan. However, Fevamotinico has agreed not to take any action to collect the loan debt in cash prior to its maturity date. The loan agreement also contains a standstill provision, under which Fevamotinico undertakes not to make any claims against Ferrexpo or to initiate proceedings for its liquidation, external administration, or any other insolvency-related proceedings, nor to facilitate such actions by other parties.

If the fundraising does not take place and the placement agreement is terminated, the principal amount of the loan, together with accrued but unpaid interest, will be due for repayment in cash on the maturity date, unless the alternative repayment mechanism described above—involving the transfer of shares—is successfully implemented. If Ferrexpo is unable to repay the loan in cash by the specified deadline, and the alternative repayment mechanism involving shares is not implemented, the company will have to raise additional financing or negotiate other terms for settling the debt with Fevamotinico.

Fevamotinico is a related party of Ferrexpo under the UK Listing Rules, as it is a significant shareholder of the company and has the right to vote (or control the exercise of voting rights) with respect to 49.27% of the votes at the general meeting of shareholders. Accordingly, the granting of the loan is considered a related-party transaction.

The company’s directors consider the terms of the loan to be fair and reasonable in the interests of the shareholders. The Board of Directors received appropriate advice from BDO LLP, which acts as the company’s sponsor. In providing this advice to the directors, BDO LLP took into account the commercial assessment of the loan conducted by the directors themselves.

Ferrexpo owns a 100% stake in Yeristovsky GOK LLC, a 99.9% stake in Bilanivsky GOK LLC, and 100% of the shares in Poltava GOK PJSC.

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Oschadbank provided EUR 10.34 mln for construction of three solar power plants in Khmelnytskyi region

State-owned Oschadbank has provided Eco-Future “Kamianka” LLC with a EUR10.34 million loan for the construction of three solar power plants with a total capacity of 18.322 MW in the Khmelnytskyi region, the financial institution announced on Monday.

Along with the solar power plants, the company plans to install a 50 MW energy storage system. Once commissioned, the complex is expected to generate up to 22,600 MWh of electricity per year.

According to Oschadbank, this is the bank’s largest energy project in terms of financing volume in the micro, small, and medium-sized business (MSME) segment.

“Since the beginning of the year, Oschadbank has financed the construction of solar power plants with a total capacity of 42.6 MW for nearly 850 million UAH,” said Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska, a member of the bank’s management board responsible for the MSME segment.

The facilities will be built by Solar Stalkonstruktsiya LLC, which has been operating in the market since 2012 and has experience implementing over 5 GW of solar energy projects and energy storage systems in 20 countries.

According to the National Bank, as of July 1, 2026, Oschadbank, with total assets of 518.87 billion UAH, ranked second among Ukraine’s 59 banks. The bank’s total loan portfolio grew by 6.7% in the first half of the year, reaching 136.83 billion UAH.

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Ukrainians’ debt to MFIs has risen by 17% since beginning of year

According to Experts.news, the average microloan amount in Ukraine rose to 9,170 UAH in the second quarter of 2026, which is nearly 1.5 times higher than the figure for the same period last year, according to an analysis by the Experts Club think tank based on data from OpenDataBot.

In the second quarter of 2025, the average size of such a loan was approximately 6,290 UAH. Thus, over the course of a year, the average microloan amount increased by about 2,900 UAH, or 46%.

At the same time, Ukrainians did not turn to microfinance organizations significantly more often. On average, about 700,000 microloans are issued per month, and the total number of contracts for January–June 2026 amounted to 4.196 million.

The total amount of microloans issued in the first half of the year reached 37.5 billion UAH.

At the same time, the population’s accumulated debt to MFOs is growing. As of July 1, it stood at 32.32 billion UAH—4.7 billion UAH, or 17%, more than at the beginning of the year.

Original source: OpenDataBot—MFO market research for the first half of 2026

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FUIB Raises EUR 2.9 Mln from NUR to Provide Loans to Ukrainian Businesses

First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) has signed its first loan agreement with the National Development Institution (NUR) for EUR 2.9 million to finance Ukrainian entrepreneurs and companies, the bank announced on Monday.

The agreement was signed on August 28 by PUMB Deputy Chairman of the Board Artur Zagorodnikov and NUR Chairman of the Board Andriy Hapon.

“The signing of the first loan agreement with the NDR is an important practical outcome of the partnership we launched under state-sponsored preferential programs back in February 2020 and successfully continued several months ago by attracting funds from foreign investors,” Zagorodnikov said.

Under the terms of the agreement, NUR will provide PUMB with financial resources, which the bank will direct toward lending to individual entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium-sized private enterprises operating and investing in Ukraine.

The funds may be used for investment projects, the modernization and development of production, the purchase of equipment, and the replenishment of working capital.

According to the National Bank, as of July 1, 2026, PUMB, with total assets of 248.63 billion UAH, ranked fifth among Ukraine’s 59 banks. The bank’s loan portfolio grew by 17.6% in the first half of the year, reaching 115.4 billion UAH.

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Lending to Ukraine’s agricultural sector increased by 25 bln hryvnia over past year

As of August 24, the volume of lending to Ukraine’s agricultural sector had increased by 25 billion hryvnias compared to the same date in 2025—reaching 105 billion hryvnias, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky announced at a briefing on Friday.

“An additional 2 billion hryvnias in loans were issued over the past week. Overall, looking at the total as of today, the figure stands at 105 billion hryvnias as of August 24. This is 25 billion more than on the same date last year. Lending options are expanding,” he said.

As previously reported, according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1012 dated August 13, 2026, agricultural producers are now able to obtain preferential loans under the government’s “5-7-9%” program for up to 90 million hryvnias to finance their operations, without the requirement that the funds be used for investment purposes.

Previously, loans to replenish working capital were capped at 5 million hryvnia.

As reported, the Ukrainian Maritime Corridor ceased operations on July 22 following enemy attacks. Farmers appealed to the government for assistance due to a sharp drop in market prices, difficulties with exporting their products, and the need for additional funds for storage.

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Agricultural enterprises have raised 46.3 bln UAH under “5-7-9%” program since beginning of year

Since the beginning of the year, 6,864 agricultural enterprises have raised 46.29 billion UAH under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” according to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

The program was most actively utilized in the Odesa (6.14 billion UAH for 817 agricultural enterprises), Kyiv (4.49 billion UAH for 577 agricultural enterprises), Kirovohrad (4.26 billion UAH for 817 agricultural enterprises), Vinnytsia (4.12 billion UAH for 731 agricultural enterprises), and Kharkiv (3.17 billion UAH for 402 agricultural enterprises) regions.

In total, since the beginning of the year, 11,887 agricultural enterprises have secured over 105.63 billion UAH in loan funds through all financing programs.

In 2025, 15,574 agricultural enterprises received 131.47 billion UAH in bank loans for development.

Under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” 7,978 farms were financed in the amount of 53.76 billion UAH.

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