The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed a loan agreement with Farmak for up to EUR 8.5 million to provide working capital and access to hard currency, reads a press release of the bank.

The bank said that this is a third EBRD loan to the company.

Currently the bank is considering two more projects in Ukraine’s pharma sector to the total of EUR 15 million, EBRD said.

Florence Bachelard-Bakal, the EBRD’s Head of Manufacturing and Services for Ukraine, said that pharmaceutical sector is very important for Ukraine, and not only in purely economic terms but also because locally produced medicines are much more affordable than imported ones.

"At the EBRD, we set ourselves three tasks in the sector: to help pharma companies reach international industry practices; to help them with energy efficiency improvements; and of course to support the industry with long term funds which are essential for capital expenditure and innovative product development," she said.

Iryna Marchenko, senior banker at the EBRD’s office in Kyiv, said that "even today, the pharmaceutical sector in Ukraine can be attractive for foreign investment, as many Ukrainian manufacturers already comply with Good Manufacturing Practice standards (GMP) required in the EU and many other countries globally."

"There is also a lot of scope to introduce advanced technologies and “first to the market” generic drugs in order to replace expensive imports and old, low value generic medicines," she added.

In 2014, the EBRD is committed to investing around EUR 1 billion in Ukraine in various sectors, which includes credit lines to support existing clients in the manufacturing sector through challenging times.