Dnipropetrovsk region is one of the most active participants in the Made in Ukraine programme and energy recovery loan programmes. This was emphasised by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, during a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the region's businesses.
In particular, following the signing of a number of loan agreements, the Dnipro City Council received loan financing from Sense Bank for a total of UAH 320 million. The total loan term under all the agreements is 60 months with a 12-month grace period for principal repayment. The funds under the Energy Source and Affordable Loans at 5-7-9 programmes are used to set up an alternative source of heat generation. The Dnipro City Council raised UAH 60 million directly to the city budget. This money will be used to insulate the facades of residential apartment buildings and overhaul them as part of investment projects.
‘The Government, local authorities, businesses, banks and citizens are working together to restore power generating capacities. Both government programmes and private initiatives of banking institutions are currently in place. Businesses, condominiums and housing cooperatives also have access to the expanded Affordable Loans at 5-7-9 programme, and households can get interest-free loans. We see an active interest of regional businesses and municipalities in these instruments. The signing of loan agreements between the Dnipro City Council and Sense Bank once again confirms the above. In total, all banks in the country have approved applications for UAH 4.3 billion under both government programmes and private initiatives of banking institutions,’ said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
In his turn, Oleksiy Stupak, Chairman of the Board of Sense Bank, noted the importance of the signed agreements.
"The signing of several loan agreements between the bank and the city is a new page in the modern history of relations between local governments and financial institutions. Given the total shortage of power generation capacity, local administrations are in dire need of additional funding, and we stand ready to provide it, both through government programmes and our soft loan programmes,’ said Oleksiy Stupak.
According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, the region ranks third in Ukraine in terms of the number of loans received under the Affordable Loans at 5-7-9 programme. Since the beginning of the year, entrepreneurs in the region have received 1,090 loans. The portfolio amounted to UAH 3.7 billion.
In addition, entrepreneurs of the region were granted loans for the development of production facilities worth UAH 265.8 million under the Made in Ukraine policy. Grant recipients operate in various areas of the processing industry. The most common sectors are agro-processors, light industry, and furniture.
As part of the programme to compensate for the cost of agricultural machinery, which is also part of the Made in Ukraine policy, 25 agricultural enterprises in the Dnipropetrovsk region received UAH 2.9 million in partial compensation for the cost of this machinery. In this way, the Government is stimulating demand for domestic engineering products.
“Businesses in Dnipropetrovsk region do not need to be told about the importance of industry and high-tech production with high added value. For decades, this region has been at the forefront of the country's industrial development. The Government's objective is to help entrepreneurs develop production to the fullest extent possible, even under the extremely difficult conditions they are currently facing. The economic policy ‘Made in Ukraine’ is aimed at this,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
According to her, the Made in Ukraine policy envisages three key areas:
To implement the Made in Ukraine policy, the Government has envisaged the following instruments:
During the meeting with the business, other topical issues were also discussed. In particular, the issue of staff shortages, the state's fiscal policy and the return of Ukrainians.