Marchenko Partners has advised the Western NIS Enterprise Fund on loans granted to CCE Dnipro Training and Production Enterprise of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind and the "Printing House" Center for Labor Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons.
WNISEF is a regional fund in Ukraine and Moldova which, according to Marchenko Partners, has "more than two decades of successful experience in investing in small and medium-sized companies." WNISEF was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and since its inception, WNISEF’s cumulative investments total over USD 186 million to 130 companies employing around 26,000 people.
In 2015 WNISEF has launched a USD 35 million legacy program focused on export promotion, local economic development, impact investing, and economic leadership. According to Marchenko Partners, "WNISEF is funding innovative, high-impact, reform focused programs and aims to support Ukraine and Moldova at this critical period by developing sound economic policy and leadership."
According to Marchenko Partners, CEE Dnipro Training and Production Enterprise of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind, which is staffed by 68 workers suffering from visual impairments and other disabilities, specializes in manufacturing equipment for Ukrzaliznytsia rolling stock and produces building products. The funds received from WNISEF, the firm reports, "will help increase production volumes and strengthen the market position of the enterprise in terms of production volume."
The "Printing House" Center for Labor Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, the firm reports, "is a printing house where people with disabilities are employed." According to Marchenko Partners, "the new loan will allow the company to purchase new equipment, increase the number of employees and increase their wages."
The loans were made as part of WNISEF's "Impact Investing Program," which, according to Marchenko Partners, "allows social enterprises (businesses that implement social or environmental programs or resolve certain social issues) to get access to hryvnia-denominated low-interest loans. One of the aspects of the implementation of the Impact Investment Program is the low-interest loan mechanism implemented by the Western NIS Enterprise Fund in partnership with Ukraine's State Savings Bank of Ukraine and Kredobank." Over the last three years, Marchenko Partners reports, "our lawyers not only helped WNISEF to launch the Impact Investing Program but also advised on each of 21 loans granted within the program to the social enterprises from all over Ukraine."
The Marchenko Partners team was coordinated by Partner Roman Shulyar and included Associate Bogdan Burlaka and Junior Associate Oleksandr Pozniakov.
