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Press Release

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Small Business with U.S. Investor Uses OPIC Loan to Expand Restaurant Chain in Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A small business with a U.S. investor will use a loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to help Ukraine’s second-largest fast food restaurant chain increase the number of its restaurants in the capital city from 11 to 28, OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. announced today.

OPIC will provide a $6.8 million loan to the Closed Joint Stock Company Shvydko-Ukraine (Shvydko) for the opening of 17 new Shvydko quick-service restaurants in Kiev, as well as the construction of a new commissary and the implementation of a new computer management system for the chain. Shvydko, which offers traditional Ukrainian food freshly prepared from local sources, is the second-largest fast food restaurant chain in Ukraine, after McDonald’s.

The new restaurants will comprise both full-sized stores and food courts; one will be a showcase restaurant situated in a prime location in Kiev. The upgrade of Shvydko’s MIS system will include advanced data transfer and integration capabilities for management reporting and operations analysis, as well as a higher level accounting system.

Shvyko is owned by Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Twenty First Century Holdings (Overseas) Ltd. WNISEF is the region’s leading private equity fund, formed pursuant to the Support for East European Democracy Act of 1989, and funded primarily through grants committed by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The fund was incorporated in 1994 and makes investments in private firms in Ukraine and Moldova.

Mosbacher noted that Shvydko’s expansion would help meet a growing demand for restaurant food in Ukraine, where the sector has been growing approximately 10-15 percent annually for past five years, with fast-food growth rates exceeding 20 percent. The project would also generate 875 permanent local jobs, the majority for young Ukrainians.

“Increased demand for restaurants in Kiev indicate the growing purchasing power of the Ukrainian population, itself a sign of economic growth. OPIC is pleased to work with WNISEF to help Ukraine meet this demand, in a project with several developmental benefits,” Mosbacher said.


OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.  It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy.  Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad.  OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.

 

Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.