EU-funded War Risk Coverage Grant to help Ukraine's MSMEs insure EBRD-financed investments against war risk
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdańsk, the EBRD, the European Commission, the Export Credit Agency of Ukraine ("ECA"), Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine and INGO announced their intention to implement the War Risk Coverage Grant ("WRCG") – a EUR 5 million, EU-funded pilot established under the EBRD-European Union contribution agreement signed in May 2026 within the Ukraine Investment Framework. The WRCG will help eligible Ukrainian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises ("MSMEs") afford war-risk insurance for the fixed assets they finance through EBRD-supported capex lending in Ukraine.
The WRCG aims to complement Ukraine's state war-risk compensation mechanism (administered by ECA) by providing additional grant support to keep residual insurance premiums affordable for MSMEs and to enhance the state programme's capacity to insure longer and larger investments.
The partners are now working together to design and pilot the support mechanism, agree the eligibility criteria, process and documentation, and ensure WRCG complementarity with the state mechanism – aiming to launch the WRCG once all necessary approvals and definitive arrangements are secured. A successful pilot is designed to facilitate MSME access to war-risk insurance and support long-term lending in the country, contributing to Ukraine's economic resilience and reconstruction.
[Standard EBRD/other partners boilerplate paragraph — cumulative investment in Ukraine since 2022 — to be appended.]
Notes for editors: this statement records the partners' shared intention to cooperate and creates no legal or financial obligations. Implementation of the WRCG is subject to each partner's final internal approvals and the signing of legally binding agreements. Respective statements mirroring this announcement may be made by the URC delegations at relevant panel discussions or meetings, as appropriate.
Natalia Gurina, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, emphasized:
“We are proud that Raiffeisen Bank will become the first financial institution in Ukraine to roll out this initiative. We sincerely thank the EBRD, the European Commission, INGO Insurance Company, and the ECA for creating additional opportunities to support Ukrainian businesses, sustain economic activity, and rebuild the country's future. The Bank will continue its active work in this direction and designing new mechanisms to mitigate war risks and expanding opportunities for businesses."
Ruslan Spivak, PhD, Head of Institutional Clients, Investment Banking and Corporate Strategy Division at Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, added:
"The critical importance of war-risk insurance for Ukrainian businesses during a full-scale war is of no doubt. However, we understand that not all companies can afford these expenses. This led to the idea of developing an instrument for partial compensation of costs for war-risk insurance, a solution we have been actively working on together with the EBRD, the ECA, and insurance company Ingo. Thanks to the fruitful and well-coordinated cooperation with our partners and the EU's readiness to allocate dedicated funds, a pilot project establishing this tool was successfully developed. The value of this mechanism for our clients is beyond doubt, and we look forward to scaling WRCG following a successful pilot."
