EBRD Invested Nearly $1 Bln In Ukraine In ‘07

KIEV, Ukraine -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) closed out 2007 with $935 million in projects throughout the year.

EBRD headquarters in London
Landmark deals included a $100 million loan to Galnaftohaz to expand the OKKO gasoline station network, a $100 million deal to assist IKEA’s entry into the country’s booming consumer market and a $100 million loan to Kyiv public transportation entities.

Overall, ERBD’s investment in Ukraine declined slightly, about 10% over the previous year. Bank spokesman, Anton Usov, said the decline was “due to the fact that 2006 was such a remarkable year in which we exceeded our business plan; not to any slowdown in bank operations.”

The EBRD is set to begin 2008 with a flurry of project signings, valued at $450 million during the first quarter alone.

Highlights include a $220 million loan to the Rivne-Kyiv high power-line and a $139 million loan to assist the O’Key hypermarket chain open three outlets.

An EBRD spokesman stated that Ukraine has made “remarkable progress on the path toward establishing an enduring European-style representative democracy, yet significant hurdles remain”.

Specifically, Anton Usov said, “Ukraine needs to strengthen the court system, increase transparency, rationalize land use law and, perhaps most important, a period of political sustained stability.”

As a tribute to Ukraine’s impressive economic growth and political transformation the EBRD will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting in Kyiv on 18-19 May 2008.

The EBRD is the largest private foreign investor in Ukraine. Since 1993, the EBRD has invested $4.5 Billion in over 150 projects throughout the country.

Source: Kyiv Post