KIEV, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is stepping up its support to Ukrainian exporters and importers by extending a new trade finance facility of up to 40 million U.S. dollars to Ukrgasbank to stimulate international and regional trade under the Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), according to Ukrgasbank's press service on Thursday.
"Ukraine's economy is export-driven and the EBRD's Trade Facilitation Programme will help us expand foreign trade and support our customers' international transactions, thus playing a vital role in the country's economic recovery," said Kyrylo Shevchenko, Ukrgasbank CEO after signing the agreement with Henry Russell, the EBRD director for financial institutions in the Western Balkans, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.
EBRD provides partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions and covers the payment risk of issuing banks in various countries through the TFP. It allows issuing banks to increase the volume and value of trade transactions, with enhanced tenors and access to competitive pricing terms.
Ukrgasbank is Ukraine's fourth largest banks with a network of nearly 250 branches, according to EBRD data.
EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost 13.1 billion euros across some 430 projects in Ukraine.
