Kyiv, Ukraine (October 22, 2020) – Vendor Finance, widely practiced in the European leasing market, could be a promising business model for vendors and leasing companies in Ukraine. This was the message of international consultant Katarzyna Kaczmarek to an online roundtable jointly sponsored by the USAID Financial Transformation project and the Ukrainian Union of Lessors Association.
International Vendor Finance Expert Katarzyna Kaczmarek stated: “Currently, Ukraine’s lease market is young. Therefore, successful partnership between a vendor and a leasing company depends on the extent to which a vendor is open to the idea of financing, and whether the company understands that the right Vendor Finance program will increase sales, distribute risk, and increase profitability.”
The UUL and USAID/FST have researched and analyzed vendor finance as a model that could benefit the leasing industry in Ukraine for the past two years. “In the past two years, as part of our cooperation the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project have performed a herculean task of explaining best practices of such type of financing to the Association members, as well as implementing them,” emphasized Maryna Masich, CEO of the Ukrainian Union of Lessors Association. “We greatly appreciate this powerful contribution to raising awareness of leasing companies and expanding their outlook. Under the limited sources of conventional funding and the shortage of alternative ones, vendor finance will be the ideal win-win model that everyone benefits from.” Presentations, training materials, and practical manuals to assist Ukrainian lease companies implement vendor finance are available at: http://www.fst-ua.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Vendor_Finance_June2020.pdf.
Oleksander Koshcheyev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Union of Lessors Association, said: “Vendor finance programs are used by many companies across all sectors of the economy in Europe and around the world – Volvo, Mercedes, Schmitz, Scania, DAF, HP, GE, CAT, Philips Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, Apple, Lenovo, Dell, IBM, JCB and many others. However, in Ukraine, this concept is yet to be implemented in the market. Under such circumstances, forward-looking lease companies that are able to develop strategies and long-term objectives for years ahead will become trend setters and win upcoming vendor finance business.”
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About the Association Ukrainian Union of Lessors (UUL)
Association Ukrainian Union of Lessors (UUL) was founded in 2005 as a voluntarily union of professional leasing market participants. The main objective of this non-profit association is to promote the development of the open and equal-access market of operating and financial leasing in Ukraine by coordinating the activities of companies united to protect common interests. Currently, the UUL brings together 28 companies, including leading leasing companies and representatives of related markets. The UUL is the only professional association in the industry, with members accounting for over 80% of Ukraine’s finance lease market. For additional information about UUL, please contact Maryna Masich, CEO, at: +38 (093) 381 51 00; [email protected]. Please also visit its website at: http://uul.com.ua/en/
About USAID
USAID has partnered with Ukraine since 1992 and over this time USAID has provided $3 billion worth of assistance. USAID’s current strategic priorities include strengthening democracy and good governance, promoting economic development and energy security, improving health care systems, and mitigating the effects of the conflict in the east. For additional information about USAID in Ukraine, please visit its website: http://www.usaid.gov/ukraineor its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.
About the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project
The USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project supports financial sector reform in Ukraine and provides assistance in the following focus areas: consumer lending, legal and regulatory reform, increasing access to finance in the non-bank financial sector; expanding digital finance solutions; and promoting better involvement of the people in financial markets and financial consumer protection. For more information about the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project and its activities, please visit FST’s information page at: http://www.fst-ua.info/en/ and its Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/FSTProject.