World Bank gives Ukraine a $200 mln loan for agricultural development

"The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a USD 200 million loan to Program-for-Results (PforR) on Accelerating Private Investment in Agriculture to improve opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector," reads the statement on the World Bank’s website.

The program aims to increase agricultural sector competitiveness, diversification, and growth by enhancing the efficiency and targeting of sectoral support policies, improving transparency and efficiency of use in the state agricultural land, and improving agribusiness SMEs’ access to export markets. All of these are key preconditions for the successful development of the agriculture sector.

Agricultural exports remain a key driver of the Ukrainian economy, representing almost 42 percent (USD 18 billion) of total export value. Currently, the sector is operating below its potential and, together with increased exports, could make a significantly larger contribution to economic growth.

“Ukraine can improve its economic growth by enhancing efficiency and transparency of its agricultural sector. A 30 percent increase in agricultural productivity could result in additional cumulative 4.4 percent of GDP growth over the next five years,” said Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.

Since May 2014, the World Bank has provided a total of USD 5.6 billion to Ukraine, through four development policy loans and seven investment operations, as well as a USD 500 million gas guarantee and USD 750 million policy-based guarantee.

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