The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a US$42mn loan to Ukraine’s Kreditprombank. It will comprise an A loan of US$13mn for the EBRD’s own account and a B loan of US$29mn syndicated to seven financial institutions including Cordiant Capital, Anglo-Romanian Bank, HSBC, State Bank of India, Nassau (OBU), Mizrahi Tefahot Bank London, Banco Efisa, and National City Bank.

 

The loan will help Kreditprombank to expand its lending activity to small and micro businesses in Ukraine.

 

The EBRD was able to increase the size of the A and B loans (by US$3mn and US$9mn respectively) in order to accommodate the high demand from the market and to provide Kreditprombank with a bigger loan amount.

 

According to Anna Langdon, senior syndications manager at the EBRD, the success of this transaction will further enhance the ability of Kreditprombank and other Ukrainian banks to tap international funding sources and extend loan maturities in the future.

 

One important feature of this transaction is the maturity, which is significantly longer than what is currently available for Ukrainian banks. The EBRD portion of the loan has a tenor of three years, and the loan from the B lenders has a tenor of 18 months with a possibility to extend it for a further 18-month period.

 

Ukrainian borrowers typically have access to loans with a maximum maturity of one year.

 

The EBRD is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of the end of September 2006 it had committed over €
2.4bn through 120 projects.