Happy Nordic Living attended yesterday's "Financing Your Investment Project in Ukraine" event in Gdańsk, held alongside URC 2026, where the European Commission and UkraineInvest brought together the key financial institutions supporting investment into Ukraine.

The message was clear: far more financing is available than is generally known. The Ukraine Investment Framework channels EUR 9.5 billion into de-risking and blended finance instruments, alongside major players such as the EIB Group (over EUR 4bn committed to Ukraine since 2022), Germany's KfW (EUR 1.6bn current portfolio), Poland's BGK, France's Bpifrance, and Denmark's EIFO – each offering its own mix of loans, guarantees, and technical assistance programmes.

The common thread is clear: financiers are actively looking for strong projects in Ukraine's reconstruction, and the range of instruments spans everything from small SME projects to industrial investments worth tens of millions of euros.

HNL has been on this road for a while already. The company submitted its investment and business plan to the EU's Enest programme in 2025, passing the first eligibility check. This year, planning has continued in parallel with site visits across the Kyiv region, where HNL has been scouting suitable plots, factory sites, and ready-built industrial halls, as well as holding discussions with landowners interested in developing their properties together with HNL.

Financing negotiations are set to continue actively once the autumn season begins – and the landscape seen this week provides a solid foundation for that work.

Thanks to Glenn Kolleeny for the shared trip and the good conversations on site.