Oschadbank and the EBRD signed an agreement of up to EUR 510 million to expand financing for Ukrainian businesses during the war

On the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 (URC) in Gdańsk, Oschadbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement for launching a new credit risk sharing programme to finance Ukrainian businesses.

The first tranche of the programme amounts to EUR 150 million and will be directed towards lending to corporate, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. The agreement provides for the possibility of gradually increasing the programme’s total limit to EUR 510 million by activating subsequent tranches at the discretion of the EBRD.

The new programme will help to significantly expand Ukrainian enterprises’ access to finance during the war. Thanks to the risk-sharing mechanism, the EBRD will assume part of the risk on the loans that Oschadbank will include in the programme’s portfolio. It allows increasing lending volumes and reducing collateral requirements for borrowers.

Importantly, the programme also expands financing opportunities for corporate businesses: the maximum loan amount under the programme is up to EUR 10 million.

For the first time, with the support of the European Union and the EBRD Crisis Response Special Fund’s donors (“CRSF”), in the context of cooperation between Oschadbank and the EBRD, the programme incorporates the EBRD’s Enterprise Security Enhancement (‘ESE’) feature for the MSME and SME+ segments (enterprises with up to 500 employees and annual turnover of up to EUR 75 million).

Under the ESE feature, in the event of damage to the borrower’s assets as a result of military action, the EBRD will make a payment to the bank, after which Oschadbank will reduce the client’s outstanding loan balance by the corresponding amount. The total limit for this ESE debt relief is EUR 2.4 million.

“The first tranche of 150 million euro marks the start of a new programme, which is set to reach a total volume of 510 million euro. For Oschadbank, it is the largest risk-sharing instrument implemented jointly with the EBRD in the entire history of our partnership. It is particularly important that, for the first time, the programme includes a mechanism for partial debt relief for war damaged businesses (“ESE”). Combined with grant funds for SMEs under EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line, this creates additional opportunities for Ukrainian entrepreneurs to recover, develop and implement investment projects even in wartime. Moreover, the programme significantly expands access to finance for both small and medium-sized and large Ukrainian companies that require resources to implement large-scale development and modernisation projects,” said Yurii Katsion, Chairman of the Management Board of Oschadbank.

“Portfolio risk-sharing is the most sought-after instrument in Ukraine today: it turns the banks’ liquidity into real lending at a time when wartime risk appetite is scarce. This is the largest facility the EBRD has built with Oschadbank, and it will channel finance to Ukrainian companies. With the Enterprise Security Enhancement built in, and the support of the European Union and CRSF, a company that borrows today is not left alone if its assets are damaged by the war. That is what financing what is possible now actually takes, and we stand ready to do even more for Ukraine”, said Francis Malige, Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions at the EBRD.

A particular advantage of the programme is the EU funded technical assistance and grant support under EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line with incentives. MSME clients who meet the programme’s criteria will be able to receive grants to cover part of the costs for implementing their projects. Grant support will amount to 10–20% of the project cost or the loan amount.

For war veterans, their family members, and businesses directly affected by the destruction, increased grant support is available – up to 30% of the project cost, but not exceeding 300,000 euro.

The key lending parameters under the programme are as follows:

• for MSMEs — risk coverage of 10% to 70%, with a maximum loan amount of up to 5 million euro;
• for large corporate business — risk coverage of 10% to 50%, with a maximum loan amount of up to 10 million euro;
• the duration of the cover is up to 8 years for investment loans to MSMEs, up to 5 years for investment loans to large enterprises and SMEs with a grant component, and up to 3 years for working capital financing.