Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine signed a Mandate Letter with IFC on a potential risk-sharing facility to support businesses in Ukraine
Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine signed a mandate letter with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) outlining their intention to establish a new risk-sharing facility to finance Ukrainian businesses. The potential instrument would be designed to expand access to lending for micro, small and medium-sized businesses, as well as mid-market companies that continue to operate, invest in development, and support the recovery of the economy under wartime conditions.
The mandate letter was signed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference, the international conference focused on recovery of Ukraine, in Gdańsk, where the parties signed a Mandate letter. This document marks the first stage of cooperation and formalizes the mutual intention of IFC and Raiffeisen Bank to develop a new financial instrument for Ukrainian businesses.
Under the program, IFC will consider providing up to €50 million guarantee, enabling Raiffeisen Bank to build a loan portfolio of up to €100 million.
The mechanism involves partial sharing of credit risks between Raiffeisen Bank and IFC. This means that the international partner assumes part of the credit risk on business loans. Thanks to this approach, the bank gains greater capacity to finance Ukrainian companies even amid elevated wartime and economic risks.
The program will be focused on supporting businesses with significant socioeconomic impact. In particular, it targets enterprises that are owned by war veterans, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, youth and women, and create jobs for them.
A special focus of the program is on sustainable solutions – projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate-smart agriculture.
“Support to Ukrainian businesses is one of Raiffeisen Bank’s key priorities. Expanding our cooperation with IFC will enable us to create additional financing opportunities for our clients and support companies that continue to operate, invest, and create jobs despite the difficult wartime conditions. It is important for us that recovery financing instruments help businesses grow, support employment in communities, and remain accessible to entrepreneurs driving the country’s economic resilience,” said Natalia Gurina, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank.
The need for such instruments remains high. The full-scale war has fundamentally changed the logic of business lending: companies are investing in production, energy independence, logistics, and jobs, while dealing with risks that the market cannot always cover. Risk-sharing programs provide banks with increased capacity to finance such enterprises and help businesses continue their development even in a challenging security environment.
“We are pleased to continue our cooperation with IFC to support Ukrainian businesses. The signing of the mandate letter is an important step toward launching a new program that can expand financing opportunities for clients, including mid-market companies. These businesses play a vital role in maintaining economic activity, developing production, exports, and the future recovery of Ukraine,” commented Ruslan Spivak, PhD, Head of the Institutional Clients, Investment Banking and Corporate Strategy Division at Raiffeisen Bank.
Raiffeisen Bank is the largest Ukrainian bank with foreign capital and one of the key partners of Ukrainian businesses. The bank consistently develops financing programs for entrepreneurs, the agricultural sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises, while also supporting initiatives aimed at economic resilience, inclusion, and Ukraine’s recovery.
