State-owned Oschadbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have signed an agreement to launch a new credit risk-sharing programme to finance Ukrainian businesses. The total volume of the programme may reach €510 million, with the first tranche amounting to €150 million. The agreement was signed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdańsk.
The new programme is aimed at expanding access to financing for Ukrainian companies, including the large corporate sector, as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, or MSMEs. Under the mechanism, the EBRD will assume part of the credit risks for loans that Oschadbank includes in a dedicated loan portfolio. This will allow the bank to increase business lending and reduce collateral requirements for borrowers.
Under the terms of the programme, the maximum loan amount for large companies will be up to €10 million, while for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises it will be up to €5 million.
A special feature of the new agreement is the introduction of the Enterprise Security Enhancement, or ESE, mechanism, which is being applied for the first time in cooperation between Oschadbank and the EBRD. It will be available to enterprises with up to 500 employees and annual revenue of up to €75 million.
The mechanism provides additional protection for businesses against war-related risks. If a borrower’s assets are damaged as a result of hostilities, the EBRD will compensate the bank for part of the losses incurred, after which Oschadbank will be able to reduce the client’s debt by the corresponding amount. The total limit for such partial debt write-offs has been set at €2.4 million.
In addition, the programme provides grant support under the EU4Business-EBRD credit line, financed by the European Union. For small and medium-sized businesses, grants will range from 10% to 20% of the value of the investment project or loan amount.
For veterans, members of their families, as well as enterprises affected by the war, grant support may reach up to 30% of the project value, but no more than €300,000.
Risk coverage for loans to MSMEs will range from 10% to 70%, while for large companies it will range from 10% to 50%. The maximum duration of guarantee coverage is up to eight years for investment loans to small and medium-sized businesses, five years for investment projects of large companies and three years for working capital financing.
Oschadbank CEO Yuriy Katsion described the new agreement as the largest risk-sharing instrument the bank is implementing jointly with the EBRD. According to him, the programme also introduces, for the first time, a mechanism for partial debt write-offs for enterprises whose assets have been damaged as a result of the war.
Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions, said the programme is intended to stimulate lending to Ukrainian businesses amid the ongoing war and provide borrowers with additional protection against the consequences of asset damage caused by hostilities.
The programme is expected to attract additional financing for the recovery and development of Ukrainian enterprises, support investment activity and facilitate business access to credit resources amid heightened war-related risks.
