Ukrainian companies keep building warehouses and workshops and buying equipment under fire. What holds them back is a specific risk: if a drone destroys a warehouse built with a loan, the loan still has to be repaid. Standard property insurance usually excludes war.
On 24 October 2026 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the largest institutional investor in Ukraine, set out how its tools work in such cases. Two of them protect businesses directly, and the third helps banks keep lending.
Cover for goods and vehicles: URGF
After international reinsurers largely left Ukraine, local insurers could hardly offer war-risk cover. The EBRD’s Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Guarantee Facility (URGF), developed with Aon, changed that. The EBRD guarantees the reinsurer MS Amlin against war-related losses on policies written by Ukrainian insurers, so it can take on these risks again.
URGF covers short-term risks: goods and vehicles in transit and in storage. Its first €110 million of capacity has been fully used, backing nearly 10,000 policies with more than €500 million of cover.
According to Andrii Smal, Deputy Head of Financial Institutions for Ukraine at the EBRD, premiums have so far exceeded claims and the guarantee has never been called. In his view, this shows that Ukraine’s war-risk insurance market can work on commercial terms.
With European Union support, capacity is rising to €150 million. Five insurers now take part, and cover extends to gas-related assets and goods in temporary warehouse storage. URGF does not cover buildings and equipment financed by investment loans.
Partial debt relief for destroyed assets: ESE
Normally a borrower must repay a loan in full even if the war destroys the asset it financed. The EBRD’s new Enterprise Security Enhancement (ESE) changes this for investment loans.
If a fixed asset bought with the loan suffers verified war damage, the partner bank can write off part of the debt, and the EBRD, with donor support, compensates the bank. The borrower does not have to pay back the relief.
ESE applies only to investment loans, not to working capital. It comes with caps and damage verification. It is a debt-relief feature rather than an insurance product, and it is used only where no other recovery is available. Andrii Smal says ESE is the first mechanism of its kind the EBRD has piloted.
Banks that can keep lending
ESE is built into the EBRD’s portfolio risk-sharing (PRS) facilities with Ukrainian banks. By taking on part of the credit risk, the EBRD lets banks keep financing investment despite wartime uncertainty.
Credit lines that include ESE have been signed with PrivatBank, Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, Oschadbank and Kredobank, together opening €805 million of lending. ESE will also be offered under new PRS facilities, so more banks will join.
“War risk will not disappear soon, but it should not decide whether a business invests,” Andrii Smal said.
Who funds the tools
URGF is backed by France, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, while the European Union funds the expansion under its Ukraine Investment Framework. ESE is supported by the EU under the same framework and by contributors to the EBRD Crisis Response Special Fund.
What this means for investors and communities
“Foreign investors ask about the war at the very first meeting, before we even get to the market, people or logistics. Until now we could only answer in general terms about the resilience of Ukrainian business. Now we can put concrete mechanisms on the table: cargo insurance, partial loan write-off if the asset is destroyed, and banks that lend on these terms. Faith in Ukraine stops being the investor’s main argument: the risk can be calculated and built into the model. Investors are ready to work with a calculated risk; uncertainty is what they avoid,” says Roman Matys, President of the International Investment Office.
“What happens if the asset is destroyed?” comes up at almost every first meeting about a project in Ukraine. There is now a more concrete answer: an investment loan with ESE from one of four banks, and cargo cover through insurers working with URGF. The International Investment Office advises project sponsors to build these tools into their financial model and investment proposal from the start, and communities to explain them to prospective industrial park residents.
In brief
Does the EBRD insure buildings and equipment against war risk?
No. URGF covers goods and vehicles. For buildings and equipment bought with a loan, a different mechanism applies, ESE: after verified war damage the bank writes off part of the debt and the EBRD compensates the bank.
Which banks offer ESE?
As of October 2026: PrivatBank, Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, Oschadbank and Kredobank, with €805 million of lending in total.
What is the URGF capacity?
The first €110 million has been fully used; with EU support, capacity is rising to €150 million.
Source: EBRD, “Wartime investments are risky. But Ukrainian businesses invest anyway – with the EBRD’s support”, LinkedIn, 24 October 2026. Read the original