“We support sustainable financing and introduce green instruments”, – Ruslan Magomedov, the Chairman of the NSSMC

Today, the development of “green” financing is one of the most promising and unambiguously sustainable areas of focus on a world-wide scale. The green bonds, which appeared in Ukraine this year thanks to the NSSMC, are an effective financial instrument that will be definitely useful for business and the State to implement green projects. Therefore, at the roundtable organized jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Regulator discussed the details of “green” bonds with the business community and gave its recommendations for its issuance.

In his welcoming speech, Ruslan Magomedov, the Chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (hereinafter – the NSSMC), said: “We understand how the world is changing now, and how important for the economy and the ecology the sustained financial instruments are. The Regulator is aligned with the times; therefore, the green bonds are among the capital market fundraising options that we offer the market. We think this instrument is promising and we will be happy to register such green bonds in the near future.”

More than 200 participants from the corporate sector, government agencies, specialized associations, etc. attended the roundtable. During the event the participants heard about the plans of the NSSMC for the development of the green bonds market in Ukraine, in particular about the projects of regulatory acts, international experience in the development of this instrument, as well as the regulator’s recommendations on the issuance of green bonds.

Maksym Libanov, the Commissioner of the NSSMC, said: “The recommendations for the implementation or financing of the ecologic projects through the issuance of green bonds, which we have developed this year, are only the beginning, but this is a real guide for future issuers. In the near future we plan to move to legal regulation of this instrument circulation. We understand the possible difficulties that green bonds issuers may face, including in terms of information disclosure, and we will promote to make them comfortable as possible. But at the same time, we urge from the so-called greenwashing – the inappropriate use of funds of sustainable financing.

According to Mr. Libanov, the NSSMC plans are to approve a single annex to the Corporate Governance Code on the ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) by the end of the year. It will be a specialized document detailing the best practice of the ESG implementing in the company’s internal policy and reflection in the working documentation, the influence on the Supervisory Board, etc. These initiatives are of a recommendatory nature, as well as the Corporate Governance Code.

It should be reminded that the NSSMC is actively engaged in the development of a number of the financial instruments in the capital markets. In July 2021, the NSSMC systematized the global achievements in the green bonds section and approved the Recommendations on the Implementation or Financing of Ecological Projects by the issuing of green bonds. The document was prepared taking into account the regulatory framework and methodological recommendations of the leading capital market participants: the European Commission, the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank.

The presentations, which were presented at the roundtable, can be found here:

– The NSSMC’s Recommendations on Green Bonds,

– International experience in the development of the green bonds market,

– The Application of ESG standards during the issuing of green bonds.

The information on Green Bonds can also be found on the official IFC website.

You can watch the video of the round table by following the link