Ukrainian businesses have already started raising funds under the Ukraine Investment Framework (UIF) grant programme, which is part of the investment component of the Ukraine Facility programme. The first agreement worth EUR 100 million was signed by the German state bank KfW and NPC Ukrenergo. The money will be used to reconstruct, restore and expand the electricity infrastructure. This was announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, on her Facebook page.

According to her, the first investment projects have already been selected. In June, during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, 12 Top-Up agreements were signed with international financial institutions to attract EUR 990 million in guarantees and EUR 356 million in mixed financing. The agreement between KfW and NPC Ukrenergo is a continuation of these arrangements.

In addition, according to Yuliia Svyrydenko, work on the second stage of the Ukraine Investment Framework (UIF) programme has started.

“Essentially, it is about selecting new projects of international financial institutions and development finance organisations that will receive guarantees, as well as technical assistance, grants and mixed financing from the European Commission. Funds are also provided for the second phase of the UIF programme. This time, the priorities include the energy sector, support for corporate financing, support for small and medium-sized businesses, private equity funds, public investment projects, etc. Together with our partners, we plan to create a guide for Ukrainian business with step-by-step instructions on the available financing instruments for each type of client, needs, deadlines for submitting and selecting project applications, as well as all the necessary contacts,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, a new request for proposals will be launched this autumn, which international financial institutions will submit for implementation in Ukraine. This will be followed by a technical evaluation of the projects and a meeting of the Steering Committee, which will select the best projects, including those with Ukraine’s participation.

“We expect that as a result of our ongoing work with development finance organisations, they will also apply for investment projects in Ukraine and actively cooperate with Ukrainian business,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Some of them are already actively expanding their operations in Ukraine, for example, Sweden’s Swedfund, France’s AFD and Poland’s BGK are already opening their offices in Ukraine.

In order to obtain investment financing, Ukrainian businesses can already prepare projects and submit them either to local partner banks of IFIs, such as Privatbank, Oschadbank, Ukreximbank, Ukrgasbank or many private banks, or directly to international financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation, KfW and others.

In order to prepare project documentation in the best possible way, Ukrainian entrepreneurs can seek assistance from partner banks or IFIs. The UIF provides technical assistance for the preparation of business projects.

In the public sector, a tool called the Project Preparation Facility will be created to support the preparation of high-quality projects. The Government and partners are currently working on its implementation. The tool is expected to be launched early next year.

The total volume of the UIF programme is EUR 9.3 billion. Of this amount EUR 7.8 billion will be made up of guarantees that will reduce the risks of international financial institutions and development finance organisations. The remaining EUR 1.5 billion will be used for mixed business financing and technical assistance, including grants. Thanks to this, the Government hopes to attract investment financing worth more than EUR 30 billion over the next 4 years.