MARHANETS, Ukraine—The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is reporting it has added a sixth Ukrainian credit union to its Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project pilot program for strengthening credit unions in the country. WOCCU said it has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Yednannya cherez Pryodnyi Zakon (Unity through Law of Nature), a credit union based in Marhanets, Ukraine.
“Under the agreement, our CAP team will support the implementation of World Council’s Model Credit Union Building (MCUB) methodology,” the World Council said. “WOCCU has implemented the MCUB methodology at credit unions in several countries, but it was first introduced to Ukraine through the CAP Project. Through the MCUB, Yednannya cherez Pryodnyi Zakon will receive advisory and expert support on best practices for business planning and management, with a focus on scaling up and implementing the best techniques for lending to small- and medium-sized agricultural producers, and institutional strengthening.”
MoU Is Signed
According to WOCCU, CAP Project Chief of Party Ewa Sierzynska and Yednannya cherez Pryodnyi Zakon Board Chair Nikolay Trifonov signed the Memorandum of Cooperation at Agroport West Lviv 2019—one of Eastern Europe’s largest agricultural conferences. Sierzynska also organized and hosted a panel discussion on financing for agricultural producers at the conference.
Yednannya cherez Pryodnyi Zakon joins five other Ukrainian credit unions—Zaporizhzhia, Kredyt-Soyuz, Ednist, Anisia and Vygoda—in the CAP Project pilot program, WOCCU said.
What is CAP?
CAP is a four-year project (2016-20) funded by USAID aimed at strengthening the credit union sector in Ukraine to improve the quality of the financial services and products offered to farmers and agribusinesses in rural areas. To date, CAP Project support has led to the issuance of 4,189 loans worth US$5 million, disbursed through 23 partner credit unions, WOCCU reported.
‘The Whole Purpose’
“With each new credit union that adopts our Model Credit Union Building methodology, more rural farmers and agribusinesses in Ukraine will have access to loans and other financial services that will allow them to grow their operations through safe and sound financial institutions such as credit unions--which are often the sole providers of financial services in remote areas of the country. That’s the whole purpose of the CAP Project,” said Sierzynksa.