EBRD to provide Ukraine's PrivatBank with $25 mln for trade finance

MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will open a trade-financing limit of $25 million for Ukraine's state-owned PrivatBank, Ukrainian media reported, citing a statement from PrivatBank.

EBRD First Vice President Jurgen Rigterink and PrivatBank Executive Board Chairman Gerhard Bosch have signed the corresponding document in Kiev.

The agreement will contribute to the further development of trade finance at PrivatBank and the export of Ukrainian food products. Food security and trade are priority sectors in Ukraine for the EBRD, which has invested 4 billion euros in the Ukrainian economy since 2022, according to the press release.

Upon signing of the document, PrivatBank joined eleven other Ukrainian banks with which the EBRD already cooperates under the Trade Facilitation Programme.

Bosch said that the new agreement would allow issuing confirmed letters of credit with post-import financing, which, in turn, would allow clients to increase the grace period for payment under foreign trade contracts.

Rigterink in turn said that PrivatBank, which has a wide network across Ukraine and actively works with agricultural producers, has the potential to find its own niche in trade finance and support the EBRD's efforts to restore food-supply chains. Cooperation with the EBRD should also assist PrivatBank in improving operating standards, thereby improving the prospects for privatization going forward.