IFC's portfolio of potential projects in Ukraine tops $1 bln

MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group member, currently has a portfolio of projects for possible implementation in Ukraine worth over $1 billion, Ukrainian media cited IFC Head of Operations in Ukraine Yelena Voloshina as saying at the Second Business Forum 'Rapid Recovery of Ukraine', organized by the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce.

"We have a portfolio worth over $1 billion. We are looking at the energy sector and understand the need for renewable energy, above all. We are looking at telecommunications. We are still looking at agribusiness along its entire value chain. We are looking at IT, creative industries, at lots of things," Voloshina said.

The IFC also helps the government mobilize other resources of the private sector through structuring concessions and other deals, she said. Before the crisis, the IFC participated in structuring the first port concession, and today it works with the government to help structure equally important concessions in other sectors.

As an example, Voloshina cited the corporation's work with Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company, which the IFC helps in terms of corporate management and the procurement of vessels to enable the company to operate more efficiently in European waters.

"These are examples of our unconventional and creative thinking. And we will continue doing it," she said.

The IFC works with the public sector in exceptional cases, may finance the municipal sector, but its focus is on working with the private sector without guarantees from the government, shouldering all risks, she said.

"The approval that we received was about an increase in financing to $2 billion over the next two years or two years and a half. Once again, the figures are quite impressive, because before the crisis we rarely received $500 million a year," Voloshina said.

The only condition set by the Board of Directors was to search for partners to implement projects, and the IFC is advancing a mixed financing instrument whereby risks are reduced by donor financing and projects are implemented jointly with the European Investment Bank and other international financial organizations, she said.

"Out of the $2 billion approved by our Board of Directors, we have already invested $1.4 billion since the summer of 2022," Voloshina said.