Western NIS Enterprise Fund and Oschadbank proceed with crediting social enterprises at unprecedented rates

Western NIS Enterprise Fund and Oschadbank granted another social loan under the “Social Entrepreneurship” program. This time it went to the Vocational Counseling Center for the Disabled “Drukarskyi Dim” in Kramatorsk, where this loan will be used to purchase new equipment for printed materials production in order to consequently strengthen the Center’s competitive position in the regional market. This, in turn, provides opportunities for creating new jobs for the disabled. At present, “Drukarskyi Dim” employs 11 workers, 4 of them are with special needs. Re-equipment of the enterprise will ensure the employment of 6 to 12 disabled workers, as well as scaling up their wages.

‘Social entrepreneurship is a real support program for enterprises and individual entrepreneurs who build and develop business with a social component. For them, such loans are the most affordable in the market since they are granted at unprecedentedly low rates – from 5% to 10% per annum. If your business is social, we are here to help you,’ noted Andrii Stetsevych, Deputy Chairman of Oschadbank.

‘Being involved in a fair market competition for the consumer of goods or services, social enterprises simultaneously invest a significant share of their profits in solving social issues. That is why WNISEF Impact Investing Program prefers such companies in the context of low interest loans. It will facilitate their development both commercially and socially,’ said Vasyl Nazaruk, WNISEF Impact Investing Program Manager.

Under the “Social Entrepreneurship” program enterprises and entrepreneurs that prove social focus of their activities can get loans at the annual rate of 5% to 10%. Preference is given to projects that support primarily the citizens of Ukraine who suffered from the conflict in the East, including IDPs from southern and eastern regions, people with disabilities, low-income women and members of other disadvantaged social groups. See the detailed loan program terms at programs/impact-investing and at Oschadbank’s website https://www.oschadbank.ua/ua/business/finansuvannya-biznesu/

As part of the program, Oschadbank provided social loans to enterprises in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk and Cherkasy regions. In October, Oschadbank granted the first social loan to an individual entrepreneur from Kyiv.