Whirlpool Ukraine LLC
On June 22, 2012, MIGA issued a guarantee of $6.6 million to cover a non-shareholder loan from n.v. Whirlpool Europe Coordination Center s.a. of Belgium to Whirlpool Ukraine LLC. The coverage is for a period of up to three years against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance. [1]
Whirlpool Ukraine (WU) is the local sales office for Whirlpool Corporation, a global leader in the home appliance industry. It sells air conditioners, washing machines, microwaves, dishwashers, built-in stoves, hoods, and built-in ovens to distributors, wholesalers, and retailers in Ukraine. WU’s operations comprise a sales office in downtown Kiev and a warehouse in the outskirts of the city. WU buys its inventory from other Whirlpool entities and from third-party vendors. The company receives the products fully assembled, stores them in its warehouse until they are sold, and delivers them to its customers. WU plans to serve the Moldova, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan markets in the future.
WU has been having a positive development impact in Kiev since its conversion into a sales operation in 2011. The operation has hired six additional employees for a total of 30 permanent positions and expects to open new positions as the company grows and expands into new markets. WU also participates in knowledge transfer by encouraging its employees to take courses at Whirlpool University, Whirlpool’s internal training program. Courses are designed to help the company’s personnel develop leadership, operational, and cross-functional competencies.
The project is aligned with the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Strategy for Ukraine, which advocates focusing on growth, competitiveness and job creation, improvements in the business climate, and the promotion of domestic investment and foreign direct investments to achieve productivity improvements.
The project was underwritten through MIGA’s Small Investment Program.
[1] The guarantee was expired on December 12, 2017.