EBRD to take 50% of risks on Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine loans totaling 50 mln euros

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will take 50% of the risks on Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine loans supporting food security and other critical needs to a sum equivalent to 50 million euros.

The EBRD Board of Directors approved the project on October 14, and the bank funding will amount to 12.5 million euros, the Ukrainian media said with the reference of information from the bank.

The project is approved on the basis of minimum 50% of donor funding coverage provided to the EBRD by the EBRD Crisis Response Special Fund under a specific window for the EBRD's package of response to the Ukraine crisis, the bank said.

The approved programs will support food security in Ukraine by expanding the lending capacity of banks and providing the necessary access to financing to Ukrainian private companies operating in the most important sectors related to the agro-industrial complex: agriculture, food and agricultural products processing, transportation and imports.

In addition, other critically important projects can be financed, for example, in the field of pharmaceuticals.

The EBRD said last week it had approved similar projects for Credit Agricole Bank (Kiev) and Kredobank (Lvov), worth of 50 million and 35 million euros, respectively. A week before that, projects worth of 25 million and 8.75 million euros were approved for ProCredit Bank and OTP Bank (both based in Kiev), respectively. It also pledged to cover 50% of the risks on OPT Leasing agreements with a total value of 19.5 million euros.

The EBRD described Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine as the fourth largest bank in Ukraine and the largest private bank with a 7% market share in terms of assets ($4.9 billion) as of the end of the first half of 2022. The bank has 311 offices, 1,352 ATMs and 2,5 million active clients. The controlling stake belongs to Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) (68.21%), while the EBRD has a 30% minority package.