Investing that yield energy savings will reward the banks, which provide crediting.

As Ukrainian banks attached crisis recovery mode, bankers are preoccupied with loan repayments and have small appetite for devising new products. Restructuring, remedial management and workout are currently the buzzwords.

Crisis can bring opportunity, but a forced slowdown in operations can also be used – and of course is used by some banks – as a chance to take stock, work strategically and get to know where new banking opportunities may lie.

Bankers have to be asking: “What will differ my bank from its peers beyond the crisis? Are any market niches that are unfilled?”

One of the most promising and still significantly untapped segments for the Ukrainian bank community is energy efficiency financing: the formation of a dedicated loan product aimed at saving energy, raising efficiency and contributing to long-term competitiveness.

The issue of energy efficiency has been talked about for years by Ukrainian politicians and businessmen. It is a famous fact that our country is one of the most energy inefficient economies in the region. Furthermore, natural gas and electricity costs have been signifcantly rising for the past few years, oil prices are high and there are few signs that this trend will be reversed in the future.

Due to the combined factors of inefficiency and high energy prices, the global competitiveness of industry in Ukraine is deteriorating. Environmental and health problems are other reasons to introduce energy efficiency to the Ukrainian economy. The issue is so serious that it can be seen as one of Ukrainian security.

The two real sources of financing for a company which has intensions to implement energy efficiency measures are internal resources (the company’s cash flow) and external financing. Despite the apparent variety of external sources, the most common one remains the Ukrainian bank sector.