EBRD provides 149mn euro to upgrade Ukraine's energy network

KIEV: Ukraine will modernise its power transmission system with a 149 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the lender and the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said on Tuesday after signing the guarantee agreement.

Ukrenergo, a state-run national energy company, will use the 15-year loan to acquire up to 26 new transformers and carry out the automation and upgrade of 12 high-voltage substations in key locations of the Ukrainian transmission network.

"The investment will help Ukrenergo upgrade its key transmission infrastructure required for the synchronisation with the European electricity networks," the bank said in a statement.

"We are glad that the support of our EBRD partners helps us to gradually move closer to European standards," the ministry said in a separate statement.

The EBRD, the largest international financial investor in Ukraine, has made a cumulative commitment of almost 13.6 billion euros through 432 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.