By Anton Usov
Liquidity support and the provision of working capital are among the EBRD’s priority measures in Ukraine to help large and small local firms get through the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EBRD is extending a €3 million(US$3.29million) loan to Lantmännen Axa, a leading producer of breakfast cereals in Ukraine that is owned by Sweden’s largest agribusiness cooperative, Lantmännen.
The EBRD funds will secure the firm’s financial stability, allowing Lantmännen Axa to implement an investment programme to diversify its product range, which currently includes muesli, granola and cereal bars, to introduce energy efficiency measures and eventually to expand production.
This is the Bank’s second transaction with Lantmännen since 2018. Technical assistance is provided by the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund.
The EBRD Board of Directors decided in late April to expand its response and recovery programme addressing the coronavirus crisis and expects the entirety of the Bank’s investments of up to €21 billion in the two years ahead to be dedicated to this effort. The programme’s main element, the Resilience Framework, has been increased to €4 billion and will be immediately available to existing clients.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Ukraine and to date has committed almost €15 billion in over 466 projects in the country.
