Farmers received UAH 36.7B in soft loans this year – agriculture minister

Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Roman Leshchenko said this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"However, small farmers did not always have access to such financing. To make lending to them easier, more accessible and more tangible, the Verkhovna Rada in early November supported the establishment of the Fund for Partial Credit Guarantee in Agriculture. At the strategic level, the activity of the Fund will help increase investment in the agricultural sector of the economy and increase the competitiveness of agricultural products and their quality," the minister wrote.

The Verkhovna Rada earlier supported the establishment of the Fund for Partial Credit Guarantee in Agriculture. The Fund will provide guarantees of up to 50% of the outstanding principal amount and guarantees for the term of the loan agreement, but not more than ten years. The main condition is that farmers must own and/or use no more than 500 hectares of land, and they must specialize in the primary production of agricultural products.

The Fund will offer portfolio guarantees that banks will use as part of the collateral. These guarantees will be provided only for loans granted by financial institutions that have concluded a cooperation agreement with the Fund and meet the eligibility criteria approved by the Board of the Fund.

The authorized capital will be formed at the expense of the state budget (about UAH 1.5 billion) and donor assistance from international partners. In total, it will amount to about UAH 3 billion. The activity of the Fund will help finance farmers for UAH 24 billion.

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