REUTERS
Despite war and recession, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development sees value in Ukrainian assets and continues to invest, being Ukraine’s single largest investor with a portfolio of €5.1 billion and involvement in 344 projects, ranging from agriculture to energy and high technology, according to the Kyiv Post.
“I expect a very strong performance this year,” said the Bank’s director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner, the Kyiv Post reports.
The bank has pumped in an average of EUR 988 million in investments over the last six years, with a major sector being agriculture, well on target to reach last year’s figure of EUR 250 million, according to Acuner.
Agriculture accounted for 20% of EBRD’s 2014 portfolio last year.
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EBRD is also looking to close a deal with two IT firms. Acuner said one deal may involve equity and that the company “sells a very competitive service over the Internet…to industrial users” globally. He noted that it would be the “biggest IT deal in the history of EBRD in Ukraine…we want to capitalize and demonstrate to investors that we support such investments.”
Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz will get a $300 million loan soon, according to Acuner, to purchase natural gas on the European market as winter nears.
Four to five municipal infrastructure projects should also conclude this year. “We’re doing roads and trams in Lviv, trolleybuses in Odesa,” and a heating project in Chernivtsi, the Turkish banker added.
When Ukraine decides to auction the 300 state-owned enterprises for sale, EBRD will be involved. “We’re looking at post- or acquisition privatization-related financing…we could look at a few of these assets together with a strategic investor to support it,” Acuner said.
“Privatization has the potential that it would represent the spark that is needed for economic recovery,” Acuner added.
However, Acuner stressed the need to “clean out” the banking sector and weed out the legacy of third-party lending at so-called “pocket banks.”
Corrupt practices “must not be tolerated,” he added. Acuner said the government is trying to combat graft structurally and aligning the country with Western, competitive democratic values.
“When you’ve taken over a complete wreck and mess literally ... people should give a little benefit of time to get this coherence in place,” Acuner said.