Businesses to get easier access to loans: Cabinet allocates guarantees for UAH 20.8 billion

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will provide 19 banks with state guarantees on a portfolio basis totaling up to UAH 20.8 billion. The decision should expand access of micro, small and medium businesses to bank loans, primarily for enterprises that lack sufficient own property for full collateral.

The mechanism envisages that the state assumes part of the banks' credit risk. The guarantee may cover up to 80% of obligations both for a bank's loan portfolio and for each individual loan included in that portfolio.

This does not mean that the government directly allocates UAH 20.8 billion to entrepreneurs. It is about the maximum amount of state guarantees, thanks to which banks will be able to more actively lend to companies with insufficient collateral.

The government expects the instrument to be available to enterprises of various industries. Special attention is paid to the agrarian sector, which is currently facing a shortage of working capital amid Russian strikes on port infrastructure and problems with export logistics.

Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky noted that this is the government's second step in support of agrarians over the past week. Earlier, the Cabinet simplified their access to the 'Affordable Loans 5-7-9%' program so that enterprises could attract financing for working capital.

For the provision of state guarantees, banks in 2026 will pay to the budget a fee of 2% of the guarantee amount. If the decision is implemented, the Ministry of Finance expects about UAH 400 million in revenues to the state budget.

The portfolio state guarantee mechanism has been operating in Ukraine since the end of 2020. Its task is to enable small and medium businesses to obtain bank loans without the need to independently secure the entire loan amount with collateral. The program continued to work after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion and is used to support production and preserve jobs.

The rules for providing such guarantees are regulated by Cabinet Resolution No. 723 of July 14, 2021. The specific government decision of August 13, 2026 sets a new limit of guarantees for 19 creditor banks for the current year.

Based on materials: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine