The position of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on increasing the emphasis of the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% state program on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is correct, but in war conditions, limited exceptions are acceptable, head of the parliamentary committee on finance, taxation and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev said.

"You need to understand that certain exceptions - energy, retail chains - are dictated by certain military circumstances that cannot be ignored," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

The head of the committee said that it is a myth that the 5-7-9% program is used by large enterprises for the most part.

According to him, since the beginning of the program, loans worth UAH 220 billion have been issued, including during the war - UAH 130 billion, and in the first months after the full-scale invasion, the program was expanded to large grocery retail chains due to a decrease in their operational efficiency. Practice proved that it was absolutely the right decision, since the networks withstood and after a month or two began to recover in those territories where it was possible, Hetmantsev added.

He clarified that today, within the framework of 5-7-9%, as an exception, it is planned to provide banks with UAH 8 billion in loans for the energy sector.

“This is also a big business, but without it, small and medium-sized businesses will not be able to work at all. Yes, the energy industry needs money. But in the total volume of the program, it is planned to allocate up to UAH 8 billion for energy, which is incomparable with the total volume of the program,” he said.

According to information on the website of the Ministry of Finance, since the start of the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% government program (February 2020), 70,000 loans worth UAH 225.4 billion have been issued to businesses from the state budget in compensation for interest rates. Since the beginning of 2023, entrepreneurs have received 17,200 loans for UAH 58.3 billion. Last week alone, banks issued such loans to 668 entrepreneurs for UAH 1.9 billion.

At the moment, 45 banks are participating in the program, among which the leaders in providing loans are PrivatBank - more than 24,400 loans for almost UAH 39.8 billion, Oschadbank – 9,700 loans for UAH 26.2 billion and Raiffeisen Bank Aval – 5,300 loans for UAH 25.2 billion, which is now excluded from the program due to the presence of a sanctioned sister company in the Russian Federation.