EBRD and Credit Agricole Ukraine join forces to support Ukrainian firms

This article is brought to you in association with EBRD.

• EBRD signs risk sharing framework agreement with Credit Agricole Ukraine 
• The agreement will boost the bank’s lending to corporates 
• €50 million facility will enhance support for larger Ukrainian businesses in key sectors 

The signing of a Risk Sharing Framework (RSF) agreement for €50 million between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Credit Agricole Ukraine (CAU) today will enhance the capacity of the bank to make loans to a greater number of Ukrainian companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

The signing of the risk participation agreement makes Credit Agricole Ukraine the fourth partner bank in the EBRD’s Unfunded Non-Recourse Risk Sharing Framework in Ukraine, joining Ukrsibbank BNP Paribas Group, Raiffeisen Bank and Piraeus Bank. 

Under the programme, the EBRD will share the risk on individual loans of above €5 million equivalent made by Credit Agricole Ukraine to corporates of all sizes, up to a total limit of €50 million. CAU will be able to use the capital capacity freed up by the arrangement to also expand its lending to SMEs.  

The RSF will enhance Credit Agricole Ukraine’s lending capacity to provide much-needed funding to private companies, operating in agri-related industries and other critical industries including energy security, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, construction, transportation and logistics, supporting the survival and reconstruction of private businesses as well as preserving livelihoods in Ukraine during the war being waged by Russia on the country.  

It will also support Credit Agricole’s strategy for continuing sustainable growth through wider regional and sectoral reach and will allow the bank to meet the bigger financing needs of its clients, while keeping its risk-weighted assets under control.  

The RSF will be complementary to the EBRD’s existing portfolio risk sharing partnership with Credit Agricole Ukraine under its separate Resilience and Livelihood Guarantee (RLG) programme. This guarantee is an unfunded portfolio risk-sharing instrument covering up to 50 per cent of the credit risk in newly originated sub-loans. Credit Agricole has signed two portfolio risk sharing agreements with the EBRD in 2022-2023 enabling the bank to originate €100 million worth of loans to Ukrainian businesses. 

This project received support from the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund (Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, TaiwanBusiness – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the USA). Technical Cooperation funds covered the RSF Framework’s external legal costs. 

Credit Agricole Ukraine belongs to the Crédit Agricole Group (France). Since 2023, Credit Agricole JSC has been included in the National Bank of Ukraine’s list of systemically important banks, which indicates the importance of Credit Agricole for the Ukrainian economy.

 The EBRD, which has strongly supported Ukraine in wartime, has deployed more than €2.3 billion in Ukraine’s real economy in 2024, and more than €6.1 billion since the war began. It is Ukraine’s largest institutional investor.