Lessee companies will benefit from long-term leases, available both in Ukrainian hryvnia and/or in euros and will be eligible to receive grants funded by the European Union (EU) after they have successfully implemented their investment project.
The funding is available under the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line with incentives. The credit line is a joint programme by the EBRD and the EU to help companies upgrade their products and services in line with EU standards, foster workplace health and safety and advance green practices.
Higher-quality products and services will allow companies to operate more successfully both locally and in the European market.
The programme is also available in Georgia and Moldova and is set to be extended to firms in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus to make them greener, more competitive and more sustainable.
Alexander Pavlov, EBRD Associate Director, Deputy Head of Ukraine, Financial Institutions, said: “The EBRD is extending critically needed financing to Ukrainian companies through strong local financial institutions such as OTP Leasing and in close cooperation with the European Union. Access to finance and modern technologies is key for the private sector to overcome the current challenges and for businesses to continue their operations, improve performance and further contribute to job creation and economic growth.’’
OTP Leasing is a fully owned subsidiary of OTP Bank Plc., a leading regional financial group headquartered in Hungary. Established in 2008, OTP Leasing has become the market leader in Ukraine in providing finance and operating leases as well as car fleet-management services.
OTP Leasing CEO Andrey Pavlushyn said: “OTP Leasing plans to increase sales from $225 million in 2020 to $245 million in 2021. The facility from the EBRD will help us make this growth possible. We will use this programme to increase MSME sales as a percentage of our total volumes, which will make access to long-term financing in Ukraine easier for small businesses.”
Chloé Allio, Head of Operations Section (Economic cooperation, energy, infrastructure and environment) at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said: “The EU is pleased to support this EBRD-OTP Leasing operation under the auspices of the EU4Business initiative. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been working with our partners to further ease requirements and conditions for MSMEs to obtain financing, in an effort to provide them with financial relief at such a difficult time for the economies of Ukraine and the EU.”
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. The Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost €14.6 billion across 482 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.
