IFC says agribusiness is one of the drivers of the Ukrainian economy / Photo from UNIAN
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is ready to maintain the amount of investment in Ukraine's agriculture in 2016 and inject about $200 million in the country's agrarian projects, according to head of IFC's operations in Ukraine Elena Voloshina.
"Agribusiness is one of the drivers of the Ukrainian economy. In spite of the macroeconomic crisis, many companies in the sector have been demonstrating stable work. We expect that this year agribusinesses will remain a key sector that will help Ukraine return to economic growth," IFC's press service quoted Voloshina as saying.
"One of the problems that are obstacles to the development of the sector is limited access to finance, especially in the current situation. We are committed to ensuing better access to the finance. As of today, IFC is one of the largest foreign investors in the Ukrainian agricultural sector. Last year we invested about $200 million in the sector. The funds were used to support such projects as MHP, Niva Pereyaslavshchyny, Astarta," she said.
According to Voloshina, IFC will both support existing customers and expand its clientele in Ukraine.
"In addition to direct investment projects, we are also implementing a large-scale advisory program in Ukraine. It is focused on a few priority areas: liberalization of conditions for doing business in the sector, facilitation of the introduction of international standards and expansion of access to finance. For instance, today we're in partnership with the government and the private sector for introducing a new financial instrument in Ukraine – agricultural receipts," Voloshina said.
Ukraine became a member of IFC in 1993. IFC began operating in Ukraine by pioneering advisory projects in privatization and land reform. This helped create a base for the private sector, with support from such governments as Canada, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In Ukraine, IFC has invested over $3.2 billion, including $918 million in syndicated loans, in 92 projects across a variety of sectors. In fiscal year 2014, IFC's commitments to Ukraine totaled about $471 million, including mobilization.