The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Raiffeisen Bank are joining forces to support Enzym, Ukraine’s leading baker’s yeast producer. Raiffeisen Bank is providing Enzym with a loan of up to UAH 100 million (€3 million equivalent), with the EBRD guaranteeing UAH 60 million through a risk-sharing facility.
Enzym, an existing small and medium-sized enterprise client of the EBRD, supplies more than 50 per cent of all yeast for bread production in Ukraine and exports to 19 countries, mostly in the European Union.
The joint Raiffeisen-EBRD facility will finance the company’s working-capital needs and help to secure the supply of raw materials required for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, to ensure production volumes are maintained at current levels. The project is part of the EBRD’s Food Security Ukraine package, which falls under the Bank’s Resilience and Livelihoods Framework aimed at supporting the Ukrainian economy. It will help to sustain the provision of services by Enzym and safeguard business activities in Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of preserving livelihoods.
The EBRD has pledged to invest €1 billion this year to support the Ukrainian economy, with risks shared by donors and partners. To address the Ukrainian economy’s most pressing current needs, the EBRD is prioritising five areas: trade finance, energy security, vital infrastructure, food security (covering the provision of liquidity to farmers through banks for the spring sowing season, as well as to agribusiness companies and food producers and retailers) and providing liquidity to pharmaceutical companies. Investments in all areas will involve risk-sharing with partners.
The EBRD was swift to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and pledged to stand by Ukraine. In early April, the EBRD’s Board of Governors voted to suspend open endedly the access of Russian Federation and Belarus to EBRD finance and expertise, and the Bank has closed its offices in Russia and Belarus.
