MADISON, Wis., August 6, 2024 — The World Council of Credit Unions [ WOCCU ] will continue its work to strengthen credit unions in Ukraine by helping them provide more business lending through the new GROW Project, a four-year, US$ 10 million initiative funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID].
The GROW Project [2024-2028] will expand access to finance through credit unions for individuals seeking to start a business, and for existing legal entities looking to expand their operations. The GROW Project will work with credit unions to assist entrepreneurs, as well as micro, medium and small enterprises [MSMEs], cooperatives, farms and other individuals in rural areas of the country.
To facilitate this, the GROW Project will; increase credit union liquidity to make business financing more available, improve the enabling environment for credit union operations, deepen the technical capacity of credit unions to provide and promote their financial services, and address the specific challenges of women and other vulnerable populations in accessing financing for business development.
WOCCU will work closely with the United Credit Unions [UCUs] in Ukraine, specifically the Ukrainian United Credit Union and the United Credit Union of the Ukrainian National Association of Savings and Credit Unions, to develop processes, products and partnerships that maximize credit union reach and positively impact local communities and economies.
As the regulatory environment of Ukraine’s credit unions continues to shift to align with the European Union (EU), WOCCU will also work with the credit unions to adapt to new and upcoming prudential regulations.
The GROW Project will continue much of the work started by the WOCCU/USAID Credit for Agriculture Producers [CAP] Project in Ukraine (2016-2024), which closes in September.
The CAP Project and WOCCU’s International Advocacy team were instrumental in providing extensive analysis, feedback and advocacy input for a 2024 law that allowed Ukrainian credit unions to provide financing to legal entities for the first time in the country’s history.
“It is a remarkable feeling to know that much of the great work our CAP Project team did to ensure credit unions can provide lending to businesses can now be further implemented through GROW. We look forward to working with our partner credit unions to ensure they can increase liquidity and grow their business loan portfolios to better support their local communities,” said Angelina Tracy, WOCCU Vice President of Strategic Growth and Partnerships.
The GROW Project also seeks to raise public awareness about the overall benefits credit unions provide, and to implement activities that will improve financial literacy for new and existing credit union members as the sector expands its reach.
https://thecooperator.news/war-torn-ukraine-earns-free-trade-deal-to-protect-its-agri-food-sector/
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