Blended finance at OTP BANK enables farmers to save – Pavlo Huzyr
Thanks to blended finance at OTP BANK JSC, agricultural producers can obtain loans for Ukrainian agricultural machinery at an effective interest rate close to zero. This was stated by Pavlo Huzyr, Head of Alternative Sales Channels at OTP BANK’s Agro Factory, during the roundtable discussion “Loans for Agribusiness: Planting Season 2026 and New Instruments” organized by the Financial Club.
“Blended finance combines two types of compensation: from the state and from the partner. As a result, producers can achieve a significant financial effect. If we calculate it: up to 25% compensation from the state, plus concessional financing under the ‘5-7-9%’ program, and an additional partner compensation – in fact, an agricultural producer can obtain a loan for domestically produced agricultural machinery for up to three years at a zero interest rate. This is a unique opportunity,” said the Head of Alternative Sales Channels at OTP BANK’s Agro Factory.
During the roundtable, representatives of banks and Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, discussed the results of agricultural financing in 2025 and expectations for the 2026 planting campaign. The discussion also covered state support for agricultural producers, a new compensation program for future harvest insurance, the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program and blended finance, agricultural land lending and supply chain finance, digital agri-financing, and financing for small agricultural producers with land banks of less than 500 hectares.
During the discussion, Pavlo Huzyr noted that OTP BANK is strengthening its support for the agricultural sector and increasing financing volumes in 2026, as the agricultural sector remains a key driver of the economy and a major source of foreign currency revenues.
“Last year, OTP BANK financed around UAH 8 billion in the agricultural sector, of which UAH 3 billion was issued within the Agro Factory project – that is, to small and medium-sized businesses with land banks ranging from 200 hectares to 10,000 hectares. What is particularly encouraging is that 50% of these funds were allocated for investment purposes. This means that enterprises are investing, modernizing, becoming more resilient, purchasing land on credit, upgrading machinery, and investing in green energy, energy efficiency and production lines,” emphasized the OTP BANK representative.
Therefore, Pavlo Huzyr stressed that the Ukrainian agricultural sector has every opportunity to gradually transition to the American model, where a farmer understands and manages all risks at the very beginning of the season.
“The future lies in creating a comprehensive ecosystem for farmers. In this ecosystem, we as a bank support suppliers, while the farmer already at the sowing stage understands exactly what they are buying and to whom they will sell their products. This includes cooperation with traders, forward contracts and price visibility. Essentially, we should move toward the American model where a farmer closes all risks at the beginning of the season. That means knowing where the machinery will come from, how supply will be organized, at what price the sale will be fixed and how the business will be insured. And throughout this entire chain, we as banking professionals must stand alongside every participant,” Pavlo Huzyr stated.
More information about financing solutions for agribusiness is available via the link.
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Public Joint Stock Company OTP Bank is a subsidiary of OTP Bank, which is the largest independent Central-Eastern-European banking group. JSC OTP Bank is one of the largest domestic banks, a recognized leader in the financial sector of Ukraine. The Bank provides a full range of financial services to corporate and private customers, as well as to small and medium enterprises. The bank entered the Ukrainian market in 1998, and since then it enjoys a staunch reputation of socially responsible, reliable and stable institution providing its consumers with services of European quality standard.
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