FUIB has joined the unique project of consortium lending for the Big Construction program

On August 27, for the first time in the history of Ukraine, a consortium lending agreement was signed between the State Agency of Motor Roads and six Ukrainian banks. FUIB is a member of the consortium with a total loan of 10 million US dollar. Ukreximbank became the coordinator of the agreement. The project also involves Oschadbank, Ukrgasbank, TASKOMBANK, Credit Dnipro Bank.

Loan totaling 376 million US dollar is provided with collateral in the form of state guarantees for a period of 5 years. The interest rate is 4.9% per annum. The purpose use of the funds is to finance the construction, reconstruction, overhaul and maintenance of public roads of state importance according to the list approved by the decree No. 521 of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 26.05.2021. 

The introduction of such a lending instrument is unprecedented in the financial market of Ukraine. Until now, it was not possible to obtain such large volumes from Ukrainian banks, mostly lending rarely exceeded 50-70 million dollars. Today, with this agreement, its participants give a clear signal to the market that the banking system is ready to finance large investment projects through a consortium mechanism.

The result of the preparatory work on structuring the agreement was to ensure the possibility of long-term lending to Ukravtodor with an interest rate even lower than from international financial organizations.

As an organizer, Ukreximbank takes measures to obtain the required amount of financing on the banking market of Ukraine and provides the general organization of the agreement. FUIB, as a member bank within the specified quota, provides financial resources in the amount of 10 million US dollars on the unified terms of the consortium loan, approved by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.

"Consortium lending has finally come to Ukraine. Banks have never co-financed such projects before, but this time we managed to successfully work out a difficult business case, defend FUIB's position on many controversial issues, and most importantly find a common language and agree with partners. I directly participated in the development of this agreement, and I sincerely thank Ukreximbank and partner banks for our joint victory and welcome an outstanding historical event for the banking system of Ukraine!", said Artur Zahorodnykov, Deputy Chairman of FUIB's Board.

The precondition for the implementation of the project was the appeal of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine regarding the consulting expertise on the financing of the Big Construction program. During the discussion of ways to receive financial resources, it was emphasized that no Ukrainian bank can provide such a significant amount of funds on its own, because it exceeds the standards of banks. This necessitates Ukravtodor to apply to several banks for funding, which in turn does not guarantee the possibility of receiving the required amount in the shortest possible time and creates a heavy burden on the financial and economic service of the Agency. That is why a unique consortium lending mechanism was chosen to ensure the required amount of funds.