Agro Perspectiva

EBRD supports expansion of Ukrainian food retail chain Rukavychka

20.01.2017 22:38 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — EU4Business and GEF funds for increased trade and energy efficiency

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a Hryvnia denominated loan of UAH 135 million (equivalent of US$ 5 million) to Rukavychka group, a major food retailer operating 110 convenience stores in western Ukraine for the expansion of the company’s operations.

This project is supported by the EU under the EU4Business Initiative, which among others, is designed to offer small and medium-sized enterprises in the countries with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU (DCFTA) easier access to funding with longer maturities.

A six-year loan by the EBRD will support Rukavychka’s investment programme, which envisages the opening of 42 new stores across western Ukraine by the end of 2018, modernization and energy efficiency improvements in the existing stores and the development of a logistics centre. This will support the company in offering improved services and products to its customers, while also boosting economic development more widely in the country.

The project will also benefit from an incentive grant of almost US$ 200,000 extended under the EBRD Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme designed to transfer technology in the area of climate change mitigation and adaptation, launched in Ukraine in February 2016. The three-year FINTECC programme is supported by US$ 7 million in grant funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and a ˆ4 million grant by the EU.

The grant to the Rukavychka group will cover introduction of a wide range of energy efficiency measures including the installation of heat recuperation systems and biomass boilers as well as the replacement of the existing cooling compressors and other equipment in the stores of the Rukavychka chain.

Ukraine signed an Association Agreement with the EU in 2014, which formed the basis of a reform agenda as well as the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). The establishment of the DCFTA will create new trade opportunities and bring economic benefits to Ukraine by offering businesses access to the EU single market — the largest in the world.

For more information on DCFTA in Ukraine, please visit the EU Delegation website.The EU4Business Initiative groups together all the EU support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the region of the Eastern Partnership which brings together the EU, its member states and six partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. For more information visit http://www.eu4business.eu

The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. To date, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of more than ˆ12 billion through 377 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.