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AEQUO has acted as Ukrainian law counsel to the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) – the Luxembourg-based fund, which focuses on the development of local financial sectors in Southeast Europe and parts of Central Asia by providing long-term funding for micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) as well as private households, on granting of a USD 10 million loan to OTP Leasing LLC, the leading Ukrainian leasing company.<\/p>\n
Kreditanstalt f\u00fcr Wiederaufbau (KfW), a German government-owned development bank, is the initiator of the EFSE. The international investors in the EFSE comprise the European Union, the governments of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as well as international financial institutions (International Finance Corporation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and National Development Institutions of Western and Southeast Europe).<\/p>\n
The loan will be directed to financing leasing transactions with Ukrainian MSEs which are engaged in agriculture, livestock and agro-processing or have their main business operations in rural areas (agribusiness).<\/p>\n
AEQUO’s team comprised associate Olesia Mashtaler<\/strong> and counsel Bohdan Dmukhovskyy<\/strong>, who worked under supervision of Yulia Kyrpa<\/strong>, partner and head of Banking and Finance of the firm. AEQUO team assisted EFSE in preparing and negotiating the transaction documentation and issued legal opinion in EFSE\u2019s favor to confirm the validity and enforceability of the transaction and supporting documents.<\/p>\n “We are honored to have assisted EFSE in this very successful project in Ukraine. The loan is a significant support for OTP Leasing and its clients. To date, EFSE has cooperated with banks in the Ukrainian financial sector, but leasing is a good alternative to classical financing, especially for small enterprises in agricultural sector, and this transaction is yet another evidence of EFSE\u2019s commitment to support economic development and prosperity of Ukraine”,<\/em> said Yulia Kyrpa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “AEQUO support was very important for us as in many previous deals. Due to their help, contracting part of our cooperation process was closed very quickly and professionally. They are the best on this market as well as OTPL is on Ukraine leasing market”,<\/em> said Andrey Pavlushyn<\/strong>, CEO OTP Leasing.<\/p>\n