The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Citi Ukraine have signed a US$ 100 million revolving credit facility in Ukrainian hryvnia to increase the availability of the national currency to local businesses affected by the war. This follows a similar facility agreed a year ago.
The facility enables the EBRD to secure access to hryvnia liquidity and provide local-currency loans both directly and through domestic financial intermediaries to existing and potential clients in Ukraine. The funds will be used to support their liquidity, short-term working capital and trade-finance needs, while limiting currency exchange-related risks.
Over the past decade the EBRD has been working increasingly with domestic stakeholders in its regions to improve the Bank’s access to local currency and support the development of domestic financial markets. The new facility in hryvnia adds to the EBRD’s local-currency toolkit in Ukraine.
Arvid Tuerkner, EBRD Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova, said: “We are pleased to continue our strong cooperation with Citi Ukraine. This new facility will help ensure we can continue to meet the local-currency financing needs of Ukraine’s private-sector businesses, which is especially important in wartime.”
For this collaboration between the EBRD and Citi Ukraine, Citi relies on its Local Currency Financing Solutions initiative for development finance institutions, launched last year. Through this initiative, Citi aims to facilitate capital mobilisation in local currencies to deliver financial stability by reducing risk, aligning with responsible banking practices and empowering local borrowers to navigate their financial obligations with greater confidence.
Alexander McWhorter, Citi Ukraine’s Citi Country Officer, commented: “Citi Ukraine has been supporting clients in Ukraine throughout the war and we will not stop. We are happy that the continued cooperation with the EBRD will help Ukrainian companies expand despite the hardships of the war. A year ago a similar facility was successfully used to support the EBRD’s projects in Ukraine, especially for SME clients to drive the economic growth.”
The EBRD and Citi are fully committed to supporting Ukraine, to help provide significant and sustained investment in its real economy, strengthening the country’s resilience in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Over the last three decades, the EBRD has been the largest institutional investor in the country, with cumulative investment of more than €21 billion in over 600 projects. Since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Bank has deployed more than €6 billion in Ukraine’s real economy.
Citi Ukraine (JSC Citibank) is a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of Citibank N.A. It has had a presence in Ukraine for more than 25 years, serving around 500 multinational firms and large Ukrainian corporations, as well as some public-sector and mid-sized clients.
