The FINANCIAL — A new €50 million loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the Ukrainian capital Kyiv will encourage more people to use modern, efficient and environmentally friendly public transport.
According to EBRD, the Bank is supporting the expansion of Kyiv’s underground rail network to the residential district of Vynohradar by financing the acquisition of new metro cars. Kyiv, a rapidly growing city of three million people, is notorious for its road congestion.
The new metro line promotes clean mass rail transit as the backbone of public transport. It will encourage more people to switch from private cars or polluting minibuses to more environmentally friendly means of transport and thus improve air quality.
Kyiv’s public transport is facing financial challenges caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In response to the crisis, and in order to keep essential infrastructure operating, the EBRD has launched a Vital Infrastructure Support Programme. The EBRD loan will also ensure that investments aimed at promoting greater sustainability will not be disrupted.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said: “We are delighted that our cooperation with such a reliable partner as the EBRD continues. Today we are entering a new stage of this cooperation.
“We are implementing a project to upgrade the rolling stock of the Kyiv metro. With the help of the €50 million EBRD loan, we will be able to buy 50 new metro cars. They will make up 10 metro trains. I am grateful to our partners for their cooperation and their support for projects that are important to Kyiv and its residents.”
Matteo Patrone, EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, commented: “We are pleased to be able to support Kyiv in expanding metro services to densely populated and remote areas. Our loan will help ensure that more residents of the Ukrainian capital will in the future be able to leave their cars at home and travel around the city in comfort and at ease.”
As EBRD notes, the new EBRD loan follows similar agreements with 12 Ukrainian cities worth a total of €350 million. Over six million people are now benefiting from better and more comfortable public transport thanks to the introduction of almost 400 new EBRD-financed trolleybuses.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. To date, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost €14.5 billion through 486 projects in the country. Last year it responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in Ukraine with €812 million of financing for the economy. Ukraine was among the Bank’s top three recipients in 2020 after Turkey and Egypt.
