Moldovan grain and oilseeds trader Transoil has secured a US$31mn facility from a group of development finance institutions to finance the origination of commodities in Ukraine.

Dutch development bank FMO is providing US$11mn, the Dutch infrastructure development fund Building Prospects and the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) are lending US$7.5mn each and French development bank Proparco is tipping in US$5mn.

Transoil specialises in grain handling, storage and processing. The commodities will be stored at Reni in Ukraine or in Moldova before being exported, typically through international commodity traders, according to the DFCD.

Transoil’s “well integrated distribution and export network in Moldova, as well as two grain terminals in the Reni port [in] Ukraine, enable increased business volumes from Ukraine”, the DFCD says. “The transaction will contribute to global food security, financing the origination from Ukraine and thereafter exporting to international markets”.

Prior to Russia’s invasion last year, Ukraine was a major exporter of several key agricultural commodities. Since the war, exports by sea have been severely curtailed by a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, and as a result international attention has turned to new export routes via Moldova and Romania.

The FMO says the deal will bring comfort to Transoil’s existing and potential lenders, at a time when most commercial financiers have sharply reduced their exposure to the region.

A Transoil representative did not respond to questions about the facility.

FMO is a long-standing lender to Transoil, having first partnered with the firm in 2011. Last year it took part in an ING-led US$117mn pre-export facility also partly aimed at facilitating Ukrainian commodity exports.

It is also a participant in Transoil’s US$200mn borrowing base facility signed in July.