How to increase the green investment volume and what holds back the sustainable energy development today? These issues became the main topics of the discussion at Financing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Ukraine: A Study of Ukreximbank Experience conference, which was held in Kyiv under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Representatives of relevant ministries, State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine, the Ukrainian financial institutions, the World Bank, the EBRD, other international financial institutions, Ukrainian and foreign companies attended the Forum.

Commercial banks can play an important role in providing access to the green financing, however, in the current market conditions in Ukraine, their involvement remains limited. Usually, they have individual credit lines for financing environmental projects supported by the international financial institutions, and only a small number of them continue to pursue this option after project completion. On the contrary, Ukreximbank is the largest financial institution by amounts of sustainable energy financing facilities from international financial institutions in the OECD Eastern Partnership region and carries out such activities on an ongoing basis.

Ukreximbank provides financing to the added value generating segments of different economy sectors all over Ukraine - food industry, agriculture, construction materials, power generation, engineering, textile industry, and other.

Ukreximbank's experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy facilities implementation was considered at the Forum inter alia as a benchmark for discussion of a wide range of issues regarding policy, regulatory and legal framework and economic impact of green financing projects.

"For a decade, we have been financing industrial energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, - Olexander Shchur, Ukreximbank Board Member stated. - Due to cooperation with the World Bank, the EBRD, the European Investment Bank and other institutions we introduced a standardized green lending product into the Bank product line, and this business direction is among the Bank priorities. It is available not only to our corporate customers, but also to partners among Ukrainian commercial banks. Although during recent years Ukreximbank borrowed more than USD 500 million from international financial organizations as long-term credit facilities for Ukrainian economy development that were channeled for implementation of more than 300 energy efficiency and renewable energy subprojects, we consider that such figures are too modest as for the potential of our country", - Olexander Shchur said at the conference.