The European Investment Bank (EIB) is launching a loan program for Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a total budget of more than EUR 1 billion, EIB President Nadia Calviño said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

As Calviño said following the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, there is a clear need to strengthen collective efforts to improve resilience and recovery. Ukraine will be one of the biggest recovery projects in Europe for years to come. In Berlin, the EIB signed and announced several new projects and investment initiatives supported by their partners at the European Commission. This includes local infrastructure, support for national gas supply company Naftogaz Ukrainy in decarbonization and energy diversification, expansion of the leading EU advisory services program (JASPERS) in Ukraine and the provision of new guarantees to attract more than EUR 1 billion in loans to Ukrainian SMEs.

She emphasized that the EIB Group is the main investment partner of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, the financial structure has already provided more than EUR 2 billion for urgent needs - to restore the national engineering and social infrastructure, energy facilities, and support businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones.

Regarding the announced new program to support SMEs, she noted that providing EU support to financial institutions to unblock lending for such enterprises is crucial for their survival and, of course, mitigating the impact of the war on the private sector and the economy as a whole.

Thanks to the agreement signed in Berlin on Tuesday 11 June, the European Commission and the EIB Group will unlock more than EUR1 billion in credit funds for local businesses in Ukraine, helping them access credit on favorable terms and improve their own resilience.

Particular attention will be focused on the businesses most affected by the war (start-ups, women in business, young entrepreneurs), as well as those businesses owned by internally displaced persons, veterans and those who employ them. The EIB provides partial portfolio guarantees to local banks and other financial intermediaries in Ukraine with the aim of improving lending conditions, thereby providing greater access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The EIB Group consists of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). The European Investment Bank is the lending institution of the European Union. The European Investment Fund (EIF) is a subsidiary of the EIB, responsible for small and medium-sized businesses.