Oschad calls on international partners to cooperate in rebuilding Ukraine

In his speech at the Lugano Business Forum dedicated to financing the rebuilding of Ukraine, Sergii Naumov, the Chairman of the Management Board of Oschadbank, called on international businesses and donor organizations to take advantage of Oschadbank's extensive experience in supporting Ukrainian business. The banker emphasized that Oschad welcomes all organizations interested in contributing to the recovery of the Ukrainian economy, using its expertise proven over many years of cooperation with reputable international partners.

Mr. Naumov said that 15% of the Ukrainian economy is currently financed by Oschadbank. Moreover, over the past year, the financial institution has expanded its business support. In 2022, Oschadbank entered into loan agreements with large corporate clients in the amount of almost UAH 14 billion, the corporate loan portfolio increased by 24% and amounted to UAH 56.6 billion at the beginning of 2023. With regard to micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), the volume of new loans amounted to UAH 12.6 billion; last year, the relevant loan portfolio increased by 90% to UAH 17.5 billion. Until recently, Oschadbank was the only partner bank of the YeRobota government grant program, under which 4000 business projects raised UAH 2.4 billion for the rebuilding and development of business activity.

The increase in lending volumes is driven by Oschad's participation in various benefit programs: government, regional, partnership, and international. The Bank cooperates with the processing industry, facilitates the operation of relocated enterprises and companies in the de-occupied territories. Sergii Naumov cited Oschadbank's guarantee program with the European Investment Bank and the grant program of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, German government company, which was implemented by Oschadbank in cooperation with the German Sparkassenstiftung and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund, as examples of international cooperation.

"Oschadbank is a hub where international partners and Ukrainian entrepreneurs meet each other to cooperate for the sake of rebuilding Ukraine and creating additional jobs. We are well-aware of the needs of both, have implemented many joint international support programs for Ukrainian business, therefore we are confident that our expertise, which is currently in great demand, will be in even greater demand, in particular in the post-war rebuilding period. To achieve this, we are rapidly digitizing the lending process and implementing ESG standards in our activity", – noted Sergii Naumov.

Lugano Business Forum (LBF) is a meeting of business communities from Ukraine and a number of European countries to exchange experience and build partnerships. The meeting was initiated by the Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association and the Swiss Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises SGV-USAM together with the Blockchain Association of Ukraine with the support of the Lugano City Hall and the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland.