By KYIV. Oct 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) on November 1 launches the second phase of a grant program with the German government, within the framework of which it is planned to compensate 30% of the cost of investment projects up to EUR 30,000 for more than 100 micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the de-occupied territory, the press service of the state-owned bank has reported.
“The model we implemented to support Ukrainian businesses worked well at the first stage of this grant program… In the second phase of the project, the investment budget has been significantly increased, it amounts to EUR 5.6 million,” board member of Oschadbank, responsible for micro, small- and medium-sized businesses Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska.
According to her, this will be a significant contribution to stimulating the processing industry in Ukraine; additional emphasis will be placed on enterprises in the de-occupied territories.
In a comment to Interfax-Ukraine, she said that the budget of EUR 5.6 million for the grant program will be distributed among all financial institutions participating in it. However, Oschadbank provides for the opportunity to finance more than 100 entrepreneurs in the second phase.
“It should be noted that in the second phase of the grant project, the emphasis is on enterprises located in de-occupied territories. Oschadbank has a large client base of such enterprises and deep expertise in cooperation with them,” Butkova-Vitvitska said.
According to the information on the website, the priority sectors for financing are the food and textile industries, processing and export of Ukrainian-made products.
The press service recalled that enterprises with up to 250 employees and an annual income of up to EUR 10 million, which have not received international technical assistance since February 1, 2022 and have no debt to the state budget, can become participants in the program.
“A positive credit history is very important,” the state-owned bank said.
During the implementation of the first stage of the program during March-May of this year, Oschadbank financed about 70 business projects for UAH 185 million, of which the grant component was UAH 29.5 million. Butkova-Vitvitska also said that during the full-scale war, the state-owned bank lent UAH 7.2 billion to more than 2,300 businesses in the de-occupied territories.
Meanwhile, Kredobank (Lviv), together with the German government, plans to begin implementing the first stage of the above-mentioned program in November, the press service of the financial institution said.
As the bank’s press service reported, at the first stage the bank will provide grant support of EUR 800,000to businesses.
“This is the first cooperation between Kredobank and the German government – we hope it will be successful, and we will be able to support Ukrainian business even more,” Natalia Zgoba, head of the business tools development department at Kredobank, told Interfax-Ukraine.
She said that the bank expects to finance 40-50 enterprises.
“Thanks to the Sparkassenstiftung grant program, we will be able to support small Ukrainian businesses, and the priority task for the bank will be to direct this support to lending to agriculture, food production, logistics, enterprises in the manufacturing and processing industries,” Jerzy Jacek Szugajew Board Chairman of Kredobank said.
According to the press release, businesses can receive funding and grant support for small projects. The priority of the program is the financing of internally displaced businesses and businesses in the communities that host them, as well as enterprises from de-occupied territories and priority sectors of the economy.
Kredobank said that the start of the program is scheduled for November 2023.
As the press service said, the program can be combined with risk distribution programs implemented at Kredobank together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Commission/Bankiem Gospodarstwa Krajowego, as well as the Affordable loans 5-7-9% government program.
“The memorandum signed between all parties allows us to now include clients in the portfolio of those who will receive the grant,” the bank said.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2023, Oschadbank ranked second in terms of assets (UAH 337.98 billion) among 64 banks operating in the country and first in terms of the number of branches in the country (1,182).
Kredobank was founded in 1990. Its sole shareholder is the largest bank in Poland – PKO Bank Polski S.A. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2023, Kredobank ranked 14th in terms of assets (UAH 52.05 billion) among 64 banks operating in the country.
