At the end of 2025, bank lending to Ukraine’s agricultural sector reached UAH 142 billion, with agriculture accounting for 14% of total financing in the economy, according to Artur Zahorodnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PUMB, speaking at Forbes Agro 2026.
Key Figures
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UAH 142 billion — total agricultural loan portfolio across Ukrainian banks (estimate presented at Forbes Agro 2026).
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UAH 83 billion of this amount was financed by five banks: Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Raiffeisen Bank, PUMB, and ProCredit (approximately 58% of the market concentrated within the top five institutions).
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PUMB, as one of the key agricultural lenders, ranks among the top five banks in Ukraine by assets. As of January 1, 2026, its total assets amounted to UAH 231.0 billion, with net profit of UAH 8.05 billion.
Who Forms the Core of Agricultural Financing
The concentration within the top five banks indicates two trends:
- Agricultural lending has become a mainstream product for large universal banks and specialized institutions such as ProCredit.
- Market conditions — including interest rates, collateral requirements, risk appetite, and deal structuring — are largely shaped by a limited number of major players.
In parallel, banks are actively promoting not only traditional loans but also leasing and commodity financing to address collateral constraints and seasonality challenges. Forbes has described how PUMB, for example, is expanding leasing as an alternative to credit and adapting its risk management approach to wartime conditions.
Where State Support Plays a Role
For small and medium-sized agricultural businesses, the key mechanism combines:
- bank loans;
- state portfolio guarantees (covering part of the principal risk). In 2025, these instruments supported tens of billions of hryvnias in lending, with agriculture traditionally among the largest beneficiaries;
- sector-specific guarantee institutions, including the Ministry of Economy’s Agricultural Credit Guarantee Fund, aimed at lowering borrowing barriers.
From the National Bank of Ukraine’s perspective, business lending continued to grow rapidly in 2025, with the regulator noting that loans are playing an increasingly significant role in banks’ asset structures.
Why Agricultural Lending Is Growing Now
Three main drivers are evident:
- Working capital for seasonal needs (seeds, crop protection products, fuel, logistics) — agricultural production cannot be paused.
- Investment in processing and energy independence (drying facilities, elevators, bioenergy, on-site generation), increasing demand for longer-term financing, often structured through leasing.
- Adaptation to EU standards and ESG requirements, where access to capital is directly linked to compliance and strategic investment.
Risks in 2026: Challenges for Borrowers and Banks
- Wartime risks and logistics constraints remain central, affecting cash flow, collateral valuation, and insurance.
- Portfolio quality and provisioning are also under scrutiny. According to the NBU, banks are expanding lending rapidly, requiring heightened attention to liquidity and risk appetite.
- The structure of financing is evolving: bankers emphasize that a significant portion of lending growth is market-based rather than driven solely by state programs.
What This Means for the Agricultural Sector
- UAH 142 billion represents a systemic scale, positioning agriculture as one of the largest verticals within Ukraine’s banking credit portfolio.
- With the top five banks controlling the majority of volumes, competition for high-quality agricultural borrowers will increasingly focus on decision-making speed, collateral structuring, blending of loans, leasing and guarantees, and foreign currency solutions tailored to exporters.
- In 2026, companies able to demonstrate transparent cash flow, high-quality management reporting, and controlled risk exposure (land bank structure, contracts, insurance, logistics hedging) are likely to secure longer-term financing and higher credit limits from banks.
