Finance Ministry orders independent assessment of Business Development Fund operator of state credit programs – memo with IMF

The Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with international partners, ordered an independent assessment of the Business Development Fund (BDF) and its support programs, which should be completed by the end of June 2025, according to the updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies following the sixth review of the EFF program of Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with international partners, has commissioned an independent assessment of the Business Development Fund (to be completed by end-June 2025) and its support programs, with the goal of refining their operational design to effectively serve only those SMEs that face substantial barriers to funding and of informing the future role of the BDF. Moreover, the World Bank will carry out a policy effectiveness review of the 5-7-9% program in 2024. We will wait for the results of these studies before making any changes to the BDF’s structure or scope of activities," the Ukrainian side stated.

In addition, by the end of February 2025, the Business Development Fund will, if necessary, review and update its guarantee system in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, taking into account its financial situation.

"The NBU will formally assess the eligibility of guarantees issued by the BDF as collateral for the prudential reserves calculations and its liquidity coefficients in consultation with IFIs by end-May 2025," reads the report.

"To ensure legal certainty and attract a wide range of qualified candidates for the BDF supervisory board, legislation was recently passed to align the asset declaration obligations of the BDF’s foreign independent supervisory board members with those of SOBs," it says.