Credit Agricole Bank will expand its range of leasing services for Ukrainian businessmen
The Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the European Union will allocate Credit Agricole a €25m loan, which will be used to support small businesses in Ukraine. The project will be implemented through the bank’s leasing activities in the country.
Apart from the EBRD loan, Credit Agricole has received a grant from the EU under the EU4Business program. Thanks to these funds the bank plans to expand its range of leasing services in hryvnia, which are focused on representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. The funds, received in this way, can be used by Ukrainian entrepreneurs to modernize their machinery, purchase equipment and introduce technologies that meet European standards. Besides, the EU, represented by Crédit Agricole, encourages the initiatives, connected with environmental protection and decrease of ecological burden. About 70% of the received funds will be used for the introduction of green technologies that conforms to the EU strategy for transition to carbon neutrality.
Customers of the Credit Agricole leasing program also receive a number of investment incentives in the EU, which will be paid once the business has undergone the modernization process.
The EU4Business program includes support for companies that improve the quality of their products and level of service delivery to the level that applies within the EU.
This project of assistance to small businesses is also being implemented in Georgia and Moldova. In the near future this list should include a number of other countries. Representatives of the European Union the main goal of the EU4Business is to support the states on the way to improve their economies to be not only sustainable, but also more focused on green technologies.
At the same time the leasing sector is an important part of this process, and in Ukraine the access to finance is provided through Credit Agricole bank that has been operating in the local market for a long time and has proved to be a reliable partner for small and medium businesses.
The company has been operating in Ukraine since 1993 and renders a wide range of financial services to local customers. In addition, Credit Agricole holds one of the leading positions in the segment of leasing vehicles and cooperates with a large number of agro-industrial enterprises.
It should be noted that Ukraine is one of three countries where EBRD invests the most. The European Union, in its turn, considers small business to be a priority area that requires EBRD’s financial support. Apart from this segment, the European bank implements in Ukraine the projects connected with infrastructure development and implementation of energy efficiency principles and expansion of production capacities.
