British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, today announced it intends to provide up to £30 million of support to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Trade Facilitation Programme in Ukraine, to support trade flows of critical goods.
BII’s main focus is to support Ukrainian trade finance needs in this current time of crisis. Ukrainians desperately need to keep their economy running to provide vital goods and services to its population. Maintaining access to international trade is a vital part of this.
The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme plays an important role in supporting the country’s import and export activity. Trade flows and supply chains in Ukraine have been severely disrupted by the war. On top of the physical disruption to land and transport routes, the effect on financial intermediation has been significant, with foreign commercial banks reducing their risk exposure on Ukrainian trade finance transactions.
BII’s declaration of intent follows the announcement at last year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference, held in London, that the UK Government would allocate an extra £250 million to BII to support Ukraine’s reconstruction. This announcement of financial support to the EBRD Programme represents part of that allocation.
Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of BII, said: “During this challenging time for Ukraine, it is vital that the country retains the ability to support its economy by trading with its international partners. The trade finance we are providing into the EBRD facility, which is also supported by other DFIs, will enhance Ukraine’s capacity to do so.”
Francis Malige, Managing Director, Financial Institutions, EBRD said: “We warmly welcome BII to this cooperation on our trade finance work by development finance institutions. Such collaborations are a key element in our financing for Ukraine, increasing the scale, efficiency, and quality of recovery efforts.”
BII will continue to invest between $1.5 to $2bn a year in green infrastructure, technology, and other sectors to support countries in Africa, parts of Asia and the Caribbean.
