Ukraine Displacement Bond Sign-Up
Kleiman International has since Europe’s 2015 Syrian refugee crisis advocated use of established capital market instruments adapted for refugee/migration purposes. Since the Russian invasion more than 9 million Ukrainians have fled the country and 5.5 million remain in Europe with an equal number displaced internally, according to the most recent United Nations data. The wartime exodus of refugees to immediate neighbors Poland, Romania and Hungary has pressured the finances of host countries and municipalities already struggling to recover from Covid, and now dealing with soaring inflation and sinking currencies. Historically the main funding sources for crisis response are official humanitarian and development institutions already tapped out from previous emergencies, and explicitly appealing to large scale private capital in UN Compacts.
We have decided to forge ahead with coordinating a “Refugee Bond” to help meet the needs of Ukrainian refugee that could also apply serve as fresh sovereign funding for internal displacement, as the government struggles to close a $5 billion monthly budget gap. This instrument will appeal to mainstream emerging markets debt and ESG/SRI/impact investors. The structure will be familiar and seek credit enhancement from official lenders and the monitoring/reporting on the use of the proceeds will rely on an internationally recognized NGO. They will be used to finance housing, education, and health with detailed cash flows and policy-numeric outcomes identified.
Detailed information on the Refugee Bond effort was published by the World Refugee and Migration Council (https://wrmcouncil.org/publications/report/emerging-market-finance-refugee-crisis-application-rationale-and-roadmap/ ) and specific application to the current crisis was carried on BNE Intellinews (https://intellinews.com/comment-sovereign-sustainable-bonds-fit-the-ukraine-refugee-crisis-funding-needs-248993/?source=ukraine ). We will focus the effort on investment grade-rated Poland (and/or the City of Warsaw), host to over half of Ukraine’s refugees and with the most developed investor base in the region. In a first phase Kleiman will canvas potential investors, NGOs, underwriters, ratings agencies, etc. to determine interest, particularly seeking firms that may be willing to participate either on a pro-bono or reduced rate basis. A full-fledged concept paper will then be prepared and circulated as a precursor to a final prospectus-instrument rollout.
Kleiman International is seeking modest sponsorships (USD 10,000-20,000 range) to partially offset our time and expenses. Sponsor names will be included in the documentation circulated and can join as main actors as we solicit potential participants. Please let us know if you or your organization is interested in assisting our financial market breakthrough effort for displaced Ukrainians in a financial or working capacity.
We look forward to hearing from you and welcome any and all feedback.
Best regards,
Gary Kleiman, Senior Partner [email protected]
Beth Morrissey, Managing Partner [email protected]
Kleiman International Consultants, Inc.
@KleimanIntCon
