AVELLUM advises the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on £26.3 million equivalent loan backed by UK Export Finance 

AVELLUM acted as the Ukrainian legal counsel to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine in connection with a landmark £26.3 million equivalent export loan from Citibank, guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF). The loan will fund the reconstruction of six bridges in the Kyiv Region, which have suffered severe damages and destruction in 2022 due to Russian military aggression. The restoration of these bridges is crucial for revitalising critical transport routes around Ukraine’s capital and rebuilding local communities.

Officially announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on 21 June 2023, this facility marks one of the first financings delivered to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. With the benefit of a buyer credit loan guarantee from UKEF, the Ukrainian government was successful in accessing this financing from Citi and unlocking crucial funds for the Kyiv Region’s Road Service.

Glib Bondar, Senior Partner at AVELLUM, stated, “No doubt it is a landmark pilot project in the area of infrastructure financing in Ukraine that will hopefully unlock such type of financing at a much greater scale allowing to rebuild Ukraine in the most efficient way. Highly professional teams of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, UKEF, Citi as well as all involved legal counsels of White & Case, Ashurst, and Sayenko Kharenko demonstrated full commitment and dedication notwithstanding external factors such as air-defense alarms intervening during video and telephone conferences. That was the most rewarding experience to seamlessly work along with true professionals pushing this project step by step to the finish line.”

AVELLUM team was led by senior partner Glib Bondar with significant support from associates Yaroslav Pavliuk and Marharyta Brianska.