The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide additional financing, namely a EUR 20 million loan, to be on-lent to local private businesses with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), expanding the increase the funding limit to EUR 280 million.
“The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine (Ukreximbank) to increase the funding limit of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Support Facility project to EUR 280 million,” the EIB said in a press release on Friday.
“Additional financing, namely a EUR 20 million loan, will be provided via a parallel cross-currency swap in Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) and will be on-lent to local private businesses with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” the EIB said.
The operation is part of Team Europe’s overall response to the COVID-19 crisis, which aims to support the sustainable social and economic recovery of the region.
“Improved access to affordable finance in local currency is one of our main priorities, especially at a time when SMEs need strong support to overcome the challenges and the liquidity shortfall created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Head of the EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine Jean-Erik de Zagon said.
Chairman of the Management Board of Ukreximbank Yevhen Metsger said that the bank has a clear goal to direct additional financing to meet the specific and urgent needs of Ukrainian companies.
The EIB is an EU institution. It is owned by the EU member states. The EIB provides long-term financing.
The EIB has been operating in Ukraine since 2007. The country accounts for 60% of the bank’s lending activities in the Eastern Partnership countries.
Ukreximbank, the sole owner of which is the state, was established in 1992.
The net loss of state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) in 2020 amounted to UAH 5.6 billion against a net profit of UAH 63.62 million in 2019, chairman of the bank’s board Yevhen Metsger has said in a column published by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
According to him, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the bank’s net loss amounted to UAH 3.4 billion, which is 1.5 times more than in the corresponding period of 2019 (UAH 2.21 billion).
Metsger explained that Ukreximbank entered 2020 with a number of problems, in particular, a structural deformation of the balance sheet, a weak foreign exchange position, a significant amount of overdue debt, a pool of expensive borrowings in foreign markets, which led to the formation of a loss.
According to him, these problems were caused by political factors, and in the context of the pandemic, they were intensified by macroeconomic challenges.
In addition, the banker said that the bank’s operating model was set to automatically generate losses, in particular, the volume of loan bookings regularly exceeded operating income by an average of 50%.
“And this accumulated portfolio of toxic assets caused constant pressure on the financial result. Firstly, a sufficient level of reserves was not formed for it, and secondly, it does not generate interest income for the bank. Over 2020, expenses to cover expected losses from the credit risk of non-performing assets amounted to UAH 4.3 billion,” Metsger explained.
The state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) has provided the Antonov State Enterprise with almost UAH 3 billion of loan for the construction of three An-178 aircraft for the Ukrainian army, Chairman of the Management Board Yevhen Metzger said.
“The state-owned Ukreximbank signed a loan agreement with […] the Antonov State Enterprise for almost UAH 3 billion, which will go to the construction of three new An-178 aircraft for the Ukrainian army,” he wrote on Facebook.
It is indicated that a state contract for ordering aircraft was concluded with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for four years in the presence and with the assistance of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
As reported, in late December, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Antonov State Enterprise signed a memorandum of cooperation in the construction of aircraft for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
State-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) plans to reduce its presence in small towns and focus on interaction with large clients, Chairman of the bank’s board Yevhen Metsger said.
“We will focus on the model of optimizing our castes. This is a decrease in presence in small towns. We will remain in regional centers in order to participate and interact only with large clients,” he said during the Ukrainian Investment Roadshow on Tuesday.
As reported with reference to Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yuriy Heletiy, the Cabinet of Ministers on December 9 plans to approve the strategy of Ukreximbank.
The state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) and the Export Credit Agency (ECA) have signed a cooperation agreement to stimulate the export of goods, works and services of Ukrainian origin, the bank’s press service said on Monday, November 16.
“For the first projects under this agreement, we plan that the bank will provide Ukrainian exporters with financing of operating capital in the amount of up to UAH 5 million and for a period of up to two years for the production of goods and the sale of works and services for export purposes,” the press service quotes chairman of the board of the bank Yevhen Metsger.
According to him, within the framework of the project, exporters will go through an accelerated decision-making procedure, they will be subject to reduced collateral requirements, which, among other things, can be ECA insurance coverage for up to 85% of the loan or limit.
“The conditions for implementation of insurance compensation by the agency will be determined separately for each insurance contract after the assessment of the project. It is assumed that insurance rate size will be set depending on the loan term and may also be included in the export loan amount,” chairman of the ECA board Ruslan Hashev said.
Ukreximbank was established in 1992, the state is the only owner.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2020, Ukreximbank ranked third in terms of total assets (UAH 226.634 billion) among 74 banks operating in the country.
State-controlled Ukreximbank (Kyiv) with the assistance of the World Bank has provided a $22 million loan to Protein-Invest vegetable oil producer.
According to a report on the bank’s website, $14 million was used to refinancing an investment loan, and the company will receive another $8 million as part of a sub-project for the purchase of soybean seeds for further processing.
“Protein-Invest plant is increasing its production capacity, taking into account the global tendencies of increasing the consumption of oilseeds. To meet the needs of the enterprise in a sufficient volume of working capital for the purchase of raw materials, the bank made the most of the program of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The sub-project worth $ 8 million was approved for the project of access to long-term financing, a mandatory criterion for the participation of enterprises in which is an export-oriented activity or the attraction of local supply chains to this direction,” board member of Ukreximbank Oleksandr Ihnatenko said.
Protein-Invest enterprise has a soybean oil extraction plant with a capacity of 700 tonnes per day. It supplies vegetable oil and high-protein meal to the market of Ukraine and other countries, which are further used in the food industry and for the manufacture of animal feed. Production was launched in the village of Dunayivtsi, Khmelnytsky region, in 2019.
According to the unified state register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, t
