The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has proposed a project to credit farmers who will buy crop protection products and seeds from a subsidiary of Germany's Bayer AG that entails a risk sharing facility (RSF) in partnership with Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) and with a portfolio of up to $60 million equivalent with IFC’s exposure of up to $30 million the IFC said in a report.

The Board of Directors is to discuss the project on June 12, 2015.

The proposed project is a repeat investment based on the existing facility entered into in 2011.

The overall goal of the project is to increase the productivity and efficiency of agricultural producers in Ukraine in a sustainable manner by strengthening local distributors and extension services so they are able to provide better and more effective services and advice to farmers. The project aims to improve access to knowledge, financing and markets for around 20,000 SME farmers in Ukraine.

Over 11,300 SME farmers have been involved in the current project.

As reported, in H2 2011 the IFC and Raiffeisen Bank Aval structured a risk-sharing facility with a portfolio of up to $140 million of seasonal payment obligations to Bayer.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval avalized bills of exchange issued by agricultural producers, which were used to pay for products made by Bayer. When the bills of exchange expired, producers paid money obtained from the sales of crops.

In 2012, IFC and Credit Agricole Bank launched a similar project with Bayer with a portfolio of up to $35 million.

Bayer Ltd. is wholly owned by Bayer AG. It is a large supplier of plant-protecting agents (pesticides, herbicides and fungicides) in Ukraine.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval was founded in 1992. In early January Austria's RBI held 96.4403% in Raiffeisen Bank Aval.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval ranked seventh among the 158 Ukrainian banks on January 1, 2015 in terms of total assets (UAH 46.859 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine.