State-owned Oschadbank, under the state program Affordable Loans 5-7-9%, provided a revolving credit facility for a year to the network retailer Novus in the amount of UAH 400 million, the financial institution said in a press release on Monday.

"Retail chains, especially large ones like Novus, are a significant tool for ensuring the availability of food products to consumers, so their financing is one of our priorities during the war," Yuriy Katsiona, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank, responsible for corporate business, is quoted in the release.

It is indicated that this is the second loan agreement between the state bank and Novus since the beginning of a full-scale war. The first contract was concluded in July 2022 for the amount of UAH 500 million, also for a period of one year.

The intended purpose of both agreements is to replenish working capital.

As Oschadbank said, Novus is the bank's largest client under the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program.

On September 15, the Government of Ukraine announced a revision of the terms of the 5-7-9 program, in particular, an increase in the rate on loans to replenish working capital to 13% per annum.

Since February last year, Oschadbank has entered into loan agreements with four food retail chains for a total amount of more than UAH 2 billion.

Novus Ukraine LLC was created in 2008, in the same year the first Novus supermarket was opened in the country. The development of the Novus supermarket chain is carried out by BT Invest (Lithuania).