In September, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) insured exporters’ loan agreements worth UAH 50.5 million, according to the ECA website.
It is specified that the volume of supported exports for the month amounted to UAH 162.8 million.
The most popular categories of goods for export in September were (by foreign economic activity groups) processed vegetables, ferrous metal products, and finished products made from grain, flour, starch, and milk, while the counterpart countries were Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, and Lithuania.
The top three partner banks were Ukrgasbank (UAH 71.1 million of supported exports and UAH 21.9 million of financing), Oschadbank (UAH 52.8 million and UAH 20.6 million), and Kredobank (UAH 38.9 million and UAH 8 million), respectively.
This year, Ukrgasbank ranks first (UAH 1.35 billion of exports supported and UAH 159 million of loans disbursed), Raiffeisen Bank is second (UAH 605 million and UAH 210 million), and Oschadbank is third (UAH 584.7 million and UAH 128.67 million).
In September, entrepreneurs from Ivano-Frankivsk region were the most active in insuring their loans received under export contracts with the ECA (the amount of contacts amounted to UAH 51.5 million and the amount of loans was UAH 11.9 million), Dnipropetrovs’k region (UAH 38.9 million and UAH 8 million), Ternopil region (UAH 29.24 million and UAH 18.3 million), Zakarpattia region (UAH 23.55 million and UAH 2.3 million), and Rivne region (UAH 19.63 million and UAH 10 million).
In the first nine months of this year, ECA and its partner banks found the largest number of customers in Kyiv (UAH 311.27 million of insured loans), as well as in Dnipropetrovska (UAH 53.63 million) and Vinnytska (UAH 10.5 million) regions.
One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC (Mykolaiv), has agreed to restructure its loan agreement with OTP Bank, the grain trader’s press service reported on Facebook.
“We are grateful to the bank for the speed of decision-making and constructive approach in resolving the issue of restructuring the company’s financial obligations in such difficult times for the Ukrainian economy,” said Iryna Levkivska, CFO of the grain trader.
At the same time, Nibulon noted that the addition of another bank with foreign capital to the proposed restructuring terms once again emphasizes the confidence of foreign financial institutions in the company and Ukrainian business in general.
As reported earlier, Nibulon agreed with Kredobank to restructure the terms of the loan agreement, which was extended for six years with a preferential interest rate and deferred repayment of the principal. A similar agreement on loan prolongation for 6 years was reached with Creditwest Bank Ukraine (JSC West Finance and Credit Bank). An agreement on long-term restructuring of financial liabilities was signed with JSB Ukrgasbank.
JV Nibulon LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses from Russia’s full-scale military invasion have reached $400 million. The grain trader is currently operating at 30% of capacity and has set up a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines.
State-owned Oschadbank provided a UAH 250 million revolving credit line to Tavria Plus, a private enterprise (PE) that is part of the Tavria B retail chain, in August as part of the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” the financial institution’s website reports.
“During the period of full-scale war, we have already signed five loan agreements with this retail chain totaling UAH 865 million,” said Yuriy Katsiyon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank in charge of corporate business.
Vyacheslav Pysmenyuk, director of Tavria Plus, noted that by combining different types of credit support, they managed not only to balance payments with suppliers but also to further develop the network.
It is noted that Oschadbank has been cooperating with Tavria Plus since 2014. In addition, during 2022-2023, the company additionally received support from the state bank on general terms.
The state bank clarified that the credit line for Tavria B was the third such line for retailers under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%”. Their purpose is to replenish working capital. The total amount of funding provided by the state program during the full-scale war amounted to UAH 580 million.
According to the retail chain’s website, Tavria V has been operating since 1992 and includes 135 supermarkets and shopping centers, meat and fish processing plants, confectioneries, culinary shops, bakeries, a brewery, garment and knitwear production, and a large logistics center. The chain employs 4,500 people.
According to Opendatabot, the ultimate beneficiaries of Tavria-V LLC are Boris and Mikhail Muzalev, with 60% and 40% of the company’s shares, respectively.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, plans to resume cooperation with MHP, Ukraine’s largest chicken producer, and provide a loan of up to $30 million to its subsidiary Vinnytsia Poultry Farm LLC to finance the modernization and expansion of the plant’s biomethane production capacity from agricultural waste.
According to the IFC website, the corporation’s board of directors plans to consider this project at a meeting on September 19 this year.
It is noted that the company already operates two biogas plants to process manure from its farms into green energy. As part of its decarbonization strategy, MHP plans to increase biomethane production in Ukraine by modernizing and expanding the capacity of its biogas plants in several stages. The first stage, which will be financed under the project, will serve to demonstrate the viability of liquefied biomethane production.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $52 million, and in addition to the IFC loan, MHP expects to finance it with its own funds. It is also expected that the project will be supported by a $15 million guarantee from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, the UK, and other donors.
It is specified that the construction is planned at a biogas plant in the village of Vasylivka (Haisyn district, Vinnytsia region), which was launched in 2019 and is the largest such plant in Ukraine with a capacity of 12 MW.
At the first stage of the project, it is planned to modernize the existing facilities to produce 14 thousand tons of liquefied biomethane per year, and at the second stage – to expand the capacity to 20.5 MW.
IFC specifies that if approved by the board of directors, this will be the corporation’s sixth investment in MHP since 2003, the last of which was opened in 2014 and closed in 2019.
The corporation also points out that since 2018, members of local communities, with the support of a number of environmental organizations, have complained about the investments of IFC and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the CAO (Compliance Advisor Ombudsman). As noted in the CAO’s materials, despite the efforts of all parties, no final solution was found.
In February 2022, the CAO published its final report and referred the case to the Compliance Department. After the case was suspended in Ukraine in March 2022 due to the full-scale war against Ukraine launched by Russia, the CAO resumed its work on the case on October 17 after consultations with stakeholders.
MHP is the largest chicken producer in Ukraine. It also produces grain, sunflower oil, and processed meat products. MHP supplies chilled chicken half-carcasses to the European market, which are processed, in particular, at its facilities in the Netherlands and Slovakia. In February 2019, the holding completed the acquisition of the Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj.
The founder, majority shareholder and chairman of the board of MHP is Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk.
In the first quarter of 2023, MHP’s revenue increased by 34.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022 to $745.60 million, and net profit amounted to $49.07 million against a net loss of $108.25 million (with a foreign exchange gain of $4.18 million against a foreign exchange loss of $95.32 million).
State-owned Oschadbank has provided a UAH 297 million revolving credit line to Omega LLC, the owner of the Varus supermarket chain, under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.
“This is the fourth retail chain to receive financing from Oschad in the period from February 2022 to May 2023,” the release said.
According to the release, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the state bank has entered into loan agreements for grocery retail in the corporate business segment for UAH 1.6 billion, thus increasing the volume of financing for this sector by almost 3.5 times.
It is noted that Oschadbank has been cooperating with the VARUS network since 2014. The credit line was opened to replenish working capital for a period of 12 months.
As the state bank recalled, in 2022, Oschad entered into loan agreements with large corporate clients worth almost UAH 14 billion, while the corresponding loan portfolio increased by 24% and amounted to UAH 56.6 billion at the beginning of 2023. It is noted that since the beginning of this year, the volume of loan agreements has reached UAH 14.7 billion.
Omega LLC was established in 2000, the beneficiaries are Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak. The first Varus supermarket was opened in 2003 in Dnipro. According to the website, the chain currently has 103 supermarkets in five regions of Ukraine and the capital, with a retail area of 89.4 thousand square meters. Varus employs seven thousand people.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1, 2023, Oschadbank ranked 2nd in terms of assets (UAH 324.74 billion) among 65 banks operating in the country, and first in terms of the number of branches in the country (1183).
Ukraine’s state budget on Thursday received a $1.5 billion concessional loan through the World Bank’s Trust Fund mechanism under guarantees from the Japanese government, the Finance Ministry said.
“The raised funding will be used to restore the economy and strengthen social protection of the population,” the release quoted Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko as saying, thanking the WB and Japan for the allocation of funds.
The Finance Ministry recalled that since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has received more than $581 million in concessional financing from the Japanese government through the Japan International Development Agency (JICA).
“This year, the Japanese government is expected to provide another $2 billion in direct budget support through the World Bank Trust Fund,” the ministry added.
As previously indicated by the Ministry of Finance, as of July 21 this year, Ukraine’s state budget received funding from international partners in the amount of $23.6 billion, compared to $32.1 billion last year, with a need for this year of about $42 billion.
Since then, the budget has also received EUR1.5bn of the sixth tranche of EU macrofinancial aid.
