The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) – jointly the EIB Group – have signed a guarantee agreement with Oschadbank to support EUR 50 million of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Head of the EIB Representation in Kyiv Bruno Denis, Senior Structured Finance Manager at the EIF Martins Jansons and Oschadbank Board Chairman Andriy Pyshny.
According to the report, this agreement will enable Oschadbank to facilitate access to finance for local SMEs by providing a 70% guarantee on each loan, and subsequently extend financing on favourable terms, including with reduced collateral requirements.
The guarantee is funded by the European Union through the Neighbourhood Investment Facility under the EU4Business initiative.
“We are confident that this guarantee agreement will support Oschadbank, unlocking additional financing for SMEs and intensifying the bank’s efforts to make a sustainable contribution to the economic, social and environmental development of the country,” Denis said.
“It is quite logical for Oschadbank to sign this agreement under the EU4Business initiative, since support for SMEs is the priority for our bank’s development. Our bank recently announced the launch of its large-scale support programme for small and medium-sized businesses nationwide, both consulting and financial. The key goal of the programme is to assist SMEs at various stages of their business activity. By the end of 2020 Oschadbank intends to be among the top three Ukrainian banks in small business servicing by loan portfolio size,” Pyshny said.
