Bayer Farmers II

completed

The proposed project is a repeat transaction of the existing risk sharing facility (RSF) between Bayer Ltd., Ukraine (the company or Bayer Ukraine), a fully-owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, and Raiffeisen Bank Aval (RZB Aval), a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International. The RSF will cover a portfolio of seasonal receivables generated by Bayer Ukraine Ltd (with maturities less than 1 year) in local currency. Under the RSF, the RZB Aval would provide a guarantee to promissory notes issued by farmers which in turn would allow such farmers to buy crop protection products from the company (the project). The project is designed to (i) support the provision of certified, top quality crop protection products and know-how to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) farmers; and (ii) contribute to increase of the access to finance for SMEs in the agricultural sector, which is currently low.IFC entered into RSFs with RZB Aval in April 2011 and with Credit Agricole Bank in March 2012. The Environmental and Social Review Summaries (ESRSs) of the projects with RZB Aval (ID # 30595) and Credit Agricole Bank (ID # 31647) can be found at the following links correspondingly: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/ProjectDisplay/ESRS30595 ifcextapps.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/78e3b305216fcdba85257a8b0075079d/3b7c5477a703078e852579ab006ca3f4?opendocument Bayer Ltd., Ukraine, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, a Germany-based management holding company of the Bayer Group, offers products in three business areas: CropScience (crop protection and non-agricultural pest control), HealthCare (pharmaceutical and medical products) and Material Science (high-tech polymers and materials). Bayer CropScience business in Ukraine is a main input supplier of crop protection products, mainly insecticides, herbicides and fungicides and the project will support the company’s plans to extend its reach to a larger pool of farmers who currently lack access to credit and are using fewer and lower quality products for their agricultural production.