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I joined the Bank in its infancy in May 1992. I’m a Ukrainian-Polish Canadian and was the first native Ukrainian speaker in the Bank, even before Ukraine became a full member. Working in the Ukraine team, I was involved in the privatisation, and later led the financing, of river freight company Ukrrichflot, the first deal in Ukraine without a foreign sponsor – a rarity at the time – and the EBRD’s first syndicated transaction in Ukraine.
Since my departure from the EBRD, I have helped Western NIS Enterprise Fund obtain funding for Energy Alliance, a nascent Ukrainian energy service company; led efforts by Ukraine’s leading IT company Kvazar Micro to obtain EBRD financing; and most recently led or oversaw a number of transactions that the BSTDB has co-financed with the EBRD, namely EDPR (Romania), Shah Deniz (Azerbaijan), OTE (Greece), Gurmat Geothermal Plant (Turkiye), Energean Oil & Gas (Greece), Syvash Wind Park (Ukraine), Ingulets Solar Park (Ukraine), Rengy / Scatec Solar Park (Ukraine) and the many transaction with Galnaftogaz (GNG) in Ukraine.
Currently we have been working alongside the EBRD and IFC on a new important financing with GNG building a 147MW wind farm in western Ukraine which we jointly recently announced to help Ukraine develop its energy security and resilience. The BSTDB is proud to have initiated the MDB relationship with GNG, helping them become a leading business in Ukraine.
In these challenging times for Ukraine, I am pleased to see the EBRD’s strong commitment to the country. I’m also proud to have been a part of the Bank’s initial stages and now as it supports Ukraine as a co-financing bank with the EBRD, helping the country to develop its own resilient renewable energy resources, thus bolstering its energy security. These are critical times for our region and Ukraine in particular, and having MDB brethren support the resilience of Ukraine’s energy security is critical.
So I feel that my career has come full circle: my father left Ukraine after the Second World War to move to Canada where I was born, and now I have returned to support Ukraine following its independence and, in particular, as it faces the current challenges. I look forward to continuing this cooperation both professionally and personally.