Ukraine
Extending Financing to Credit Unions for MSME Loans
2025
Project Overview
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and its strategic partner, Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU), tapped funds raised during the 2025 Rally the Movement campaign to provide a $210,000 grant to the Ukrainian United Credit Union (UUCU), a central credit union, that will be used as reserve capital to expand lending to its network of member credit unions.
These credit unions play a crucial role in supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across the country—particularly in rural areas and agricultural communities hard hit since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The support will:
- Increase available liquidity for UUCU to lend to its members.
- Strengthen UUCU’s capital base to attract additional investment and ensure sustainability.
- Help meet urgent seasonal demand for agricultural loans during planting season.
Rally the Movement was a global effort launched by WFCU in response to the 2025 termination of USAID awards that funded WOCCU projects in Ukraine and six other countries.
WOCCU and WFCU will also use Rally the Movement funds to retain two senior Ukrainian specialists on the ground to coordinate local activities, monitor the use of funds disbursed since 2016 (and especially post-invasion) and ensure sustainability and impact-tracking of ongoing initiatives.
The project builds on work WOCCU began in 2016 through two USAID-funded projects in Ukraine that promoted financial inclusion and helped credit unions issue more than 20,000 agricultural and SME loans worth $26 million through April 2025.
The GROW Project (September 2024 to May 2025) expanded access to finance through credit unions for individuals seeking to start a business, and for existing businesses looking to expand their operations. The Project engaged with credit unions to improve and expand their services for entrepreneurs, micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives and farmers in the rural areas of Ukraine.
The GROW Project built on the successes of the USAID/WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project in Ukraine (2016-2024), which improved the ability of Ukraine’s credit unions to provide farmers and their micro, small, and medium enterprises with access to agricultural credit.
Credit Unions in the Country
- 104 total credit unions
- 200,000+ members
- US $32.4 million in assets
Funded by:
