European Investment Bank supports upgrade of energy and road infrastructure in Ukraine
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €136m to Ukraine’s National Power Company Ukrenergo in support of an extensive modernisation programme of its transmission infrastructure, helping to ensure that Ukrainian citizens and companies have a reliable source of electricity. The Ukrainian Government strongly supports this project as evidenced by the agreement that they signed with EIB today that will provide guarantees to back the EIB loan.
The EU bank and Ukraine also today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a Ukraine Urban Road Safety project that will provide infrastructure investment designed to improve urban road safety – a major issue for citizens in Ukraine and a priority for the Ukrainian Government. The EU also intends to provide a €4.25m technical assistance grant that will support development and implementation of the project, ensuring Ukraine has access to best practice in road safety.
The projects, which are backed by an EU guarantee under the EIB’s external lending mandate, are of particular significance as both the transport and energy sectors have been identified by the EU and by Ukraine as key areas for cooperation.
EIB Vice-President Vazil Hudák commented: “Our lending operations in Ukraine, fully in line with EU policies and amounting to some €5.5bn, help foster the country’s progress and deepen its cooperation with the European Union. Both projects will have a direct positive impact on the quality of life of Ukraine’s citizens, and will further develop Ukraine’s economy and strengthens its competitiveness.”
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman, who witnessed the today signature ceremony in Brussels, stated: “The Government of Ukraine is keen to enhance cooperation with European Investment Bank. This is why I, as the Prime Minister, welcome the signature of today’s bilateral documents aimed at contributing to reforms in my country, in particular towards upgrade of energy and road infrastructure”.
European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, underlined: “Road safety is a human rights issue: every life counts. A comprehensive approach, including behaviour change, education, enforcement and infrastructure, is needed. We have developed expertise and commitment in improving road safety in the EU and are glad to share this globally with partner countries such as Ukraine. I am pleased that today Ukraine and EIB sign this important programme which is also supported by EU funds.”
The EIB loan to Ukrenergo will finance the rehabilitation of 12 substations with operating voltages in the range 220-750 kV located in Dnipro power system in Ukraine. The EIB loan complements other IFI support to rehabilitate the existing infrastructure and to develop a modern fibre-optic communication infrastructure to protect, monitor and control the power grid enabling remote control of all substations concerned located across Ukraine.
The Urban Road Safety project will support municipal projects in five major cities in Ukraine: Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kiev, Lviv, and Odessa focused on increasing the road safety and enabling better access to the public transport. The project will finance infrastructure investments related to the improvement of urban road safety, develop IT solutions for safe and effective traffic management, and develop facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.
