Oschadbank deepens the cooperation with German partners: an educational module is completed and a preliminary agreement has been reached on the next stage of the grant project

Recently, a delegation from Oschadbank, headed by board member Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska, by the invitation of German Sparkassenstiftung, visited Germany, where they took part in a training program, and also held talks on the continuation of the grant initiative to support Ukrainian business, financed by the German government. Along with Oschadbank and German Sparkassenstiftung, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (FRP) also participated in the project.

As reported earlier, as a result of the first stage of this project, Oschadbank credited businesses with 164 million UAH, of which 26 million UAH was covered by grants from the German government (up to 30% of the amount). During the talks, a preliminary agreement was reached on the next expanded stage of the initiative, which will support Ukrainian business. The final decision on implementing the second stage of the grant program is expected this summer.

During the educational module, representatives of Oschadbank became acquainted with the advanced experience of the German Sparkasse (Savings Bank). It was about the business models of German financial institutions, the risk assessment system, and the approaches of colleagues to cooperation with the segment of micro-, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMB). An agreement was reached on further cooperation between Oschadbank and its German partners in the implementation of ESG standards in the work of the Ukrainian state bank.

"In the credit model of Oschadbank and the model of the German Sparkasse there is much in common. Both we and our German colleagues are proud of the low percentage of non-performing loans, which is based on similar standards of interaction with clients, especially when they face financial difficulties. At the same time, we can borrow a few more techniques to simplify processes in Oschadbank, which were shared by colleagues from the Sparkasse financial group: both organizational and customer service oriented. We will use this experience to make cooperation between Oschadbank and entrepreneurs even more comfortable," commented Natalia Butkova-Vitvitska, a board member of Oschadbank, responsible for MSMB.

«Oschadbank and the Savings Banks are well known for reliably providing inclusive financial services in the proximity of their clients even in challenging times. Learning from each other and sharing expertise will contribute to further successful development of their services offer especially for micro, small- and medium-sized companies in Ukraine and Germany», commented Matthias Pfaff, Country Director Ukraine, German Sparkassenstiftung for International Cooperation (DSIK).