On August 27, for the first time in the history of Ukraine, a consortium lending agreement was signed between the State Agency for Roads and Credit Dnepr Bank, as well as five other Ukrainian banks. Ukreximbank became the coordinator of the deal.
The loan in the total amount of USD 376 million is provided secured in the form of government guarantees for a period of 5 years. The purpose is to finance construction, reconstruction, overhaul and maintenance of public highways of state importance according to the list approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 521 of May 26, 2021.
The introduction of such a lending instrument is unprecedented in the financial market of Ukraine. As a result of the preparatory work on the structuring of the transaction, it was possible to provide long-term lending to Ukravtodor at an interest rate even lower than that of international financial organizations.
Ukreximbank, as an organizer, takes measures to attract the required amount of financing in the Ukrainian banking market and the overall organization of the transaction. Credit Dnipro Bank as a member bank within a certain quota provides financial resources on uniform terms of a consortium loan, agreed by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
“The bank's development strategy provides for support of socially and economically significant industries and projects. The road industry is one of the main multipliers of the country's economy, and financing of global, large-scale projects of Ukravtodor is for us a contribution to the development of our state, - commented Sergey Panov, Chairman of the Board of Credit Dnepr Bank. - Participation in the deal organized by Ukreximbank is a step towards consolidated projects in the banking market, which will enable everyone to take part in financing even such large-scale projects in the future. We know many examples of interesting international consortia organized by foreign banks, now we have an example of a national consortium. This speaks of the professionalism of the Ukrainian banking market and the readiness to jointly implement large and interesting projects”, he added.
The prerequisites for the implementation of the project were the appeal of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine regarding the consulting expertise on financing the Big Construction program. When discussing ways to attract financial resources, it was noted that no Ukrainian bank can independently provide such a significant amount of funds, because it exceeds the standards of banks. This makes it necessary for Ukravtodor to apply to several banks in search of financing, which in turn does not guarantee the possibility of attracting the entire required amount in the shortest possible time and creates a great burden on the financial and economic service of the Agency. That is why, to ensure the required amount of funds, a unique mechanism of consortium lending was chosen on the market.