UGB (renamed Ukrgasbank) became a partner of the Veterans’ Reintegration Conference, which brought together over 250 participants: representatives of the government, business, financial sector, international partners and the veteran community, the bank’s press service reports.

The main goal of the event is to jointly find effective ways to return veterans to the economic and social life of the country.

Rodion Morozov, Acting Chairman of the Board of Ukrgasbank, took part in the panel discussion “Building a Support Ecosystem – Best Practices of Financial Institutions in Serving Veterans as Clients”.

He spoke about the bank’s comprehensive approach to supporting veterans – financial, psychological and professional: “Each veteran has their own unique experience. We must see a person not only as a military status, but as a person – with dignity, needs and potential. That is why we at UGB are developing comprehensive support, which includes specialized financial products and services, inclusion, psychological assistance, employment, charity”.

Successful cooperation with the EBRD is one of the best examples of supporting veterans. "In April 2024, we became one of the two pilot banks that were the first to begin implementing the Window "Reintegration of Veterans and Persons Affected by War" in Ukraine, and already in August 2024, we were the first in Ukraine to issue a loan within the framework of the project," said Rodion Morozov.

The components of the comprehensive veteran support system at UGB are:

• The Veteran Support Program, which unites all the bank's initiatives and products to support veterans
  
• A veteran officer at the bank is a colleague with combat and management experience who conducts a dialogue with military personnel and veterans on the basis of the principle of "equal to equal"
  
• A line of individual financial products, including the implementation of the "Reintegration of Veterans and War Victims" window jointly with the EBRD.
  
• Mental support for veterans, employees and their families.
  
• Work for veterans and support for demobilized colleagues.

The Chairman of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshny, during the Veterans' Reintegration Conference outlined three key components that the NBU and the financial sector should follow in this work. Namely:

The National Bank is interested in its mobilized employees returning to their jobs, as well as other veterans who would like to work at the NBU. All conditions will be gradually created for this - inclusive premises, corporate culture, psychological support and other conditions;
the banking and financial environment must be completely adapted to become an effective employer for the reintegration of veterans, as well as inclusive for clients;
promoting the development of banking products, in particular for the development of veterans' business. This is already part of the Ukrainian reality and a very effective cluster of the Ukrainian economy. In order to support and develop it, it is necessary to create both state support programs and targeted lending programs from banks.
The NBU Chairman emphasized that the banking system is ready to accept and develop reform processes to support and reintegration of veterans.

“38 banks have joined the Charter on Financial Inclusion and Reintegration of Veterans. This document is part of our cooperation with the EBRD to implement standards of inclusive activities and services in the financial sector, support and resocialization of war veterans in Ukraine. It has clear implementation stages. In particular, the NBU, together with partners, is currently completing the preparation of a White Book, which will be the vision of the NBU, a guideline for financial institutions and will give them an understanding of what needs to be done for maximum adaptation for the reintegration of veterans,” Andriy Pyshny said.

He noted that the National Bank is currently working on a scoring model for assessing veteran-friendly financial institutions. It contains a description of the processes recommended for implementation, self-assessment and monitoring tools for managing veteran initiatives. Importantly, it will also allow international donors, including the EBRD, to better identify the needs for support from Ukrainian financial institutions to build a comfortable environment for veterans.

One of the companies that received financing within the framework of cooperation with the EBRD is VIP-TOYS - a manufacturer of eco-plastic children's toys and household goods. "Thanks to the EBRD financing program, we dared to innovate: we purchased equipment for the production of eco-plastics based on wheat straw, which we now use in the production of toys. And later we invested in a solar power plant - to make the enterprise energy independent. Not only the financing itself was decisive, but also the support from the bank, comprehensive consulting and comprehensive support. We also received a grant in the amount of 20% of the project cost," said Roksolana Vakulenko, Director of VIP-TOYS.