The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is guaranteeing US$5 million of risk for a new US$12.256 million loan by its partner bank, Credit Agricole Ukraine (CAU), to Dniprovska Group, a leading Ukrainian agri producer with which the EBRD already has an eight-year-long working relationship.
Announced on 24 September, the EBRD’s participation in the new loan by Credit Agricole Ukraine under the Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) will allow Dniprovska to extend the maturities of its existing working capital limits with CAU and to cover increased working capital needs for poultry meat production. In particular, the new working capital facility will support the company to cover rising prices for fodder in 2025 and to continue developing its poultry segment.
“This is a strong company that was damaged by the onset of war. Now, together with our partners, we are delighted to step up further with a guarantee for a new loan which will help Dniprovska Group enhance its cash generation and become stronger and more resilient going forward,” said Arvid Tuerkner, EBRD Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova.
Dniprovska Group, based in the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions, produces poultry and sunflower oil and grows grain. When the full-scale war began, putting parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation, the group lost its Zaporizhzhia poultry complex and more than 40 per cent of its land bank. This caused interruptions in its production cycle and logistics, while war-related population movements cut its revenue.
However, Dniprovska has since become the second-largest poultry meat producer in Ukraine, with a current market share of 7 per cent. It has rearranged its logistics around its Dnipro regional base and successfully expanded export markets, which now generate more than half of its revenue, while also sustaining domestic markets for its products.
The EBRD’s long relationship with Dniprovska, including a €20 million loan which the EBRD provided in 2019, has put the Bank in a good position to help the group overcome its difficulties. The EBRD accommodated Dniprovska in the early months of the war and is now working with CAU to meet the group’s increased working capital needs, as its business recovers, by guaranteeing a new loan with Credit Agricole.
