EBRD extends guarantees to Ukreximbank to unlock €200 million in new lending

• EBRD extends new unfunded portfolio risk-sharing facilities to Ukreximbank 
• Facilities to unlock €200 million of new financing for Ukrainian businesses, SOEs and municipalities 
• Lending to drive business resilience and energy investments, with EU support for competitiveness upgrades

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending two new unfunded portfolio risk-sharing facilities to Ukreximbank, the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine, to enable €200 million in new lending to Ukrainian borrowers amid Russia’s ongoing war on the country.

The EBRD’s guarantees will cover 50 per cent of the credit risk on Ukreximbank’s newly issued sub-loans to private businesses, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and municipalities. Ukreximbank will lend €100 million to businesses operating in critical industries in Ukraine, while the remaining €100 million will be channelled to businesses, SOEs and municipalities investing in energy generation, energy storage and energy efficiency projects.

This will significantly enhance Ukreximbank’s lending capacity, enabling it to provide much-needed funding to Ukrainians at a time of extraordinary challenges.

Similar to a previous facility extended to Ukreximbank, the new guarantees will enhance the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the European Union’s (EU) Eastern Partnership countries. Twenty per cent of all sub-loans covered by the EBRD instruments will be provided to MSMEs for long-term investments in EU-compliant and green technologies, improving their competitiveness on domestic and foreign markets.

Eligible sub-borrowers will also receive EU-funded technical assistance and investment incentives, such as grants on completion of their investment projects under the bloc’s EU4Business initiative. Higher levels of incentive will be provided to businesses affected by the war (such as those experiencing asset destruction, loss or relocation), as well as sub-borrowers, facilitating the reintegration into the workforce of war veterans, people living with disabilities, internally displaced people and/or those located in territories most acutely affected by the war.

Ukreximbank has also committed to supporting war veterans (both as employees and as clients). It will implement key recommendations set out in the Guidance Note to Support Ukrainian Financial Institutions in Becoming More Inclusive, Safer, and More Accessible Employers, which was developed by the EBRD and the National Bank of Ukraine.

The EBRD facilities will be backed by partial first-loss risk cover from France, as well as the EU under its Ukraine Investment Framework.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, the EBRD has enabled close to €3.2 billion of finance for Ukrainian borrowers through 38 similar facilities with 12 partner financial institutions.  

Ukreximbank is a systemically important state-owned bank, 100 per cent controlled by the government of Ukraine. It is the country’s third-largest bank by total assets, with a head office in Kyiv and 50 branches across Ukraine, as well as 2 representative offices in London and New York.   

The EBRD is Ukraine’s largest institutional lender, having deployed more than €8.3 billion in the real economy since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Bank has secured a €4 billion capital increase to continue supporting the country’s economy during wartime and in its future reconstruction efforts.