Ukrainian banks are not ready to resume financing of new renewable energy generation projects due to the situation with non-payments, Andriy Konechenkov, the chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association, has said.

"In the spring of this year, we took the initiative, wrote to Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, Oschadbank and PrivatBank, since there were many questions about how the projects that received a building permit will be financed further. The answer we received was as follows: we are interested in the development of "green" energy, but given the situation with non-payments, we are forced to stop further financing," Konechenkov said in a commentary to the Energy Reform portal on the sidelines of a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on the problems of development of renewable energy sources.

At the same time, the expert noted that it was the state banks that have recently financed most of the "green" projects, in particular for wind generation, and it was important for the association what the attitude of state banks to the development of "green" energy would be.

According to him, the debt to "green" energy producers as of August 1, 2020, the repayment of which was provided for by a memorandum with the government dated June 10, 2020, amounted to UAH 22.4 billion. Of this amount, UAH 5.9 billion was paid for the year, which is 23% of the total debt recorded for repayment. At the same time, sources of repayment of these debts have not yet been determined, he noted.

According to, in particular, a letter from Ukrgasbank to the association received by Energy Reform, the financial institution is not ready to resume financing industrial wind farms operating at a feed-in tariff, given the uncertainty with the sources of debt repayment, as well as the current concentration of energy facilities in the loan portfolio.

At the same time, the bank noted that its supervisory board has established stricter criteria for crediting generation projects from alternative sources than for other investment projects. The bank also indicated that its credit policy established a limit on credit transactions with clients operating in one economic sector at the level of no more than 30% in the loan portfolio of business entities.

At the same time, Ukrgasbank allowed the possibility of lending to wind farms that produce electricity for the consumption of enterprises on the territory of which they are located, without a separate connection to the network, following the example of prosumers using solar plants or selling electricity under direct contracts with consumers.