KYIV. July 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) could provide a EUR 150 million loan for the electrification of 253 km railway line Dolynska- Mykolaiv-Kolosivka, in south Ukraine.
The bank said that the main purpose of the project is to improve the efficiency of the railway operations and to support the ongoing railway reform process.
The project will be discussed by the EBRD board on September 6, 2017.
The borrower is the Ukrzaliznytsia, a vertically-integrated railway company fully owned by the government of Ukraine.
The senior loan could consist of a tranche of up to EUR 124.5 million for the electrification of Dolynska-Mykolaiv railway line (148 km) and a tranche of up to EUR 25.5 million for the electrification of Mykolaiv-Kolosivka railway line (105 km).
The total cost of the project is estimated at up to EUR 367.9 million, expected to be cofinanced by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in an amount equal to the EBRD loan, the company’s own contribution and grant funding of the technical cooperation assignments.
As reported, the EIB on November 23, 2016 approved a EUR 150 million loan under the project on the modernization of around 250 km of railways in south Ukraine.
In October 2016, Ukrzaliznytsia approved the last details of the loan from the EIB and EBRD for the electrification of the railway line Dolynska- Mykolaiv-Kolosivka.
