Bring energy to your business: 7 Million Euros To Support The Energy Efficiency Of Ukrainian SMEs
On Thursday, April 6, a presentation of the program "Bring energy to your business" was held, financed under the Project "Refinancing for Energy Efficiency Investments of Ukrainian SMEs via the Financial Sector" from a loan of the German Government in the amount of 7 million euros, provided through the KfW Development Bank and with the support of the EU within the framework of the EU4Business initiative.
The main goal of the program is to support the financing of energy-efficient business investments with the aim to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, which will contribute to increasing enterprises competitiveness and environmental protection.
The event was attended by:
- Anka Feldhusen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine;
- Yuriy Draganchuk, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine for European Integration;
- Iryna Hubarets, Sector Manager in charge of competition and economic cooperation issues at the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine;
- Lorenz Gessner, Head of KfW Representative Office in Ukraine and Moldova;
- Andrii Gapon, Executive Director of the Business Development Fund;
- Oksana Kozak, Deputy Project Manager, IPC
- Rodion Morozov, acting Chairman of the Board of "UKRGASBANK";
- Volodymyr Taranuschenko, Executive Director of "BANK LVIV".
"The German government remains a reliable partner of Ukraine, especially in difficult times of a full-scale invasion of its territory. We have always supported Ukrainian entrepreneurs and will continue to do so in the future. Today, to survive in these extremely difficult conditions of lack of sufficient energy supply and to guarantee the functioning of micro-, small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs need to be flexible and find new solutions every day. And we are ready to help them in this", – emphasized Anka Feldhusen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine.
The funds were distributed between two partner banks: UKRGASBANK – 4 million euros and BANK LVIV – 3 million euros. It is important that with the financial assistance of the EU within the framework of the EU4Business initiative, aimed at compensating the BDF (Business Development Fund) losses from currency fluctuations, funds will be provided to partner banks and entrepreneurs in hryvnias.
"The Ministry of Finance continues to attract international financial assistance: thanks to the support of the Government of Germany and the EU, we have the opportunity to offer Ukrainian banks and small and medium-sized enterprises a credit resource in the national currency for 7 million euros. This will protect entrepreneurs from currency fluctuations and maintain their stability in terms of energy efficiency. In the conditions of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, the new Program for financing energy-efficient investments "Bring energy to your business" can become a lifeline for many Ukrainian enterprises.", – added Yuriy Draganchuk, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine for European Integration.
Who can join the program?
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that:
- have been operating for more than 1 year;
- have a positive credit history;
- their investment project in the field of energy efficiency should ensure a minimum reduction of CO2 by 20%.
The SME must be a resident, and together with its owners or participants, must not be under the sanctions of Ukraine, the EU, the UN Security Council, and Germany.
How to participate?
- The enterprise must contact one of the partner banks and provide the necessary package of documents, based on which and following the eligibility criteria of the Program, the bank decides on issuing a loan.
- The maximum loan amount is up to 500,000 euros in hryvnia equivalent. The maximum term of the investment loan is 5 years.
"In the conditions of rising energy prices in Ukraine and around the world, the importance of the Program is high. The first loans under the Program will be provided for the energy supply of SMEs through the purchase of alternative power sources to ensure the uninterrupted operation of SMEs. And these are hundreds of saved jobs, therefore hundreds of happy Ukrainian families. The loan from the German government was granted for 30 years, so the project will be long-term." – noted Andrii Gapon, Executive Director of the Business Development Fund.
Note:
The project "Refinancing of energy-efficient investments of small and medium-sized enterprises of Ukraine through the financial sector" is implemented within the framework of the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine represented by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, KfW and the Business Development Fund, concluded on 07.25.2022 and is a continuation of the project "Support of small and medium-sized enterprises", the implementation of which made it possible to develop a system of lending to small and medium-sized Ukrainian enterprises in the national currency. Thus, within the framework of the project, SMEs were financed for a total amount of more than UAH 1.4 billion.
