The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a loan for the UNIT.City innovation campus development. The bank said on its website that its Board made the decision at the end of April 2020.
The details about the amount of the loan and the borrower are not disclosed.
Earlier the Ukrainian government said that this concerns a EUR 50 million loan to Unit Holdings LLC.
The EIB said that the project is part of an urban development and comprises the design, renovation and construction of carefully selected sub-projects that are part of the innovation campus. The project includes the extension of a private non-profit IT training facility, multifunctional flexible floor space offering a variety of office accommodation, fablabs, communal and interaction spaces as well as seminar and meeting room spaces for events plus other supporting facilities and infrastructures.
In November 2019, EIB Vice President Vazil Hudak said that a loan for development of UNIT.City could be provided.
UNIT.City Innovation Park officially opened in April 2017 on the territory of the former Kyiv Motorcycle Plant.
Unit Holdings LLC was established in November 2017. The main activity is the development of construction projects. According to the unified public register, participant in LLC is CJSC Dinpero Investments Limited (Cyprus). The ultimate beneficiary is the founder of UFuture holding Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) could provide a loan in the amount of EUR 50 million to Unit Holdings LLC for the development of the UNIT.City innovative campus.
According to an explanatory note to the draft Cabinet of Ministers resolution on approval of the letter of the government of Ukraine to the European Investment Bank on the Innovative Campus for Ukraine project, the bank on December 12, 2019 received a request for support from Unit Holdings in the amount of EUR 50 million to finance the development of project documentation and building individual components of the innovative campus.
The government, in turn, plans to approve and send a letter to the bank on the belonging of the financing proposal to the scope of the framework agreement Between Ukraine and the EIB.
The Innovative Campus for Ukraine project is implemented by Unit Holdings within the framework of the goals of the state policy, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers activity program adopted by the parliament in October 2019.
UNIT.City Innovation Park officially opened in April 2017 in the territory of the former Kyiv Motorcycle Plant.
Unit Holdings LLC was established in November 2017. Its core business is the development of construction projects. According to the unified state register, the ultimate beneficiary is the founder of UFuture holding, Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
UFuture is a holding company that combines Khmelnytsky’s business and social projects. It has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $550 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it invested exceeds $1 billion.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to provide Ukraine with a loan of EUR40 million to fight coronavirus, the press service of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine reports.
“Last week, Ukrainian Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov held an online meeting with the European Investment Bank. The parties discussed raising a loan of EUR40 million for a quick response and necessary measures to overcome the coronavirus in Ukraine,” the report says.
This loan will be provided within the framework of the ongoing Ukraine Municipal Infrastructure Program opened in 2014.
“On March 23, the ministry received an action plan from the EIB to provide the agreed loan. Now the parties are agreeing on the details and terms of cooperation,” according to the report.
It is noted that EIB representatives said they supported the strategy of the Ukrainian government and confirmed that for the whole world, and for Ukraine, it is also currently extremely important to use enough modern medical equipment to combat COVID-19.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is ready to redirect funds issued for programs in Ukraine for fight against coronavirus, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said.
“I spoke with the European Investment Bank, which is ready to redirect certain funds allocated for programs in Ukraine to measures to overcome the coronavirus,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In addition, Kuleba said that at a meeting with the head of the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Ukraine, Florence Gillette, he discussed the question of what kind of help the ICRC can provide to Ukraine in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
“We are ready to receive something as humanitarian aid, to purchase something, but this search is being conducted at all levels, in international organizations, in business contacts,” the minister said.
According to him, the entire system of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine is now working on two fundamental tasks: the return of Ukrainians from other countries and the search for humanitarian assistance and procurement.
The Verkhovna Rada has ratified a financial agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to improve road safety. Some 334 deputies voted on Thursday for corresponding draft law No. 0014 of December 13, 2019, the parliament’s website said.
According to the text of the explanatory note, the agreement stipulates the provision by Ukraine of the EIB state guarantee to ensure the implementation of the project “Improving Road Safety in Ukrainian Cities.”
It is expected that the project will reduce the number of accidents and the severity of their consequences; increase the share of travel by bicycle, on foot or by public transport in the total volume of traffic and, accordingly, reduce the number of trips by private transport. In addition, the project will reduce the time spent by passengers at public transport stops, as well as the operating costs of road transport owners and emissions of harmful substances into the air.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, the estimated cost of the project is EUR 177 million, of which an IEB loan is EUR 75 million (the agreement was signed on July 9, 2018), a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is estimated at EUR 75 million (it is planned to sign the agreement in 2020 year), and own funds of cities and technical assistance totaling EUR 27 million.
“Improving safety for the cities of Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kamenetz-Podilsky includes improving the infrastructure of road intersections, infrastructure for cyclists and public transport, arranging facilities to reduce speed in settlements and near schools, etc.,” he said on his Facebook page on Thursday evening.
Epicenter K LLC (Kyiv) is negotiating the financing of a project to expand grain storage infrastructure, purchase of agricultural machinery and grain hoppers for the amount of over EUR 100 million with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“The Epicenter K company is in the negotiation process with the European Investment Bank regarding obtaining a loan of more than EUR 100 million, but the company has not yet made a final decision on obtaining it,” the company said.
As reported, the EIB board of director on November 14, 2019 approved a project to provide financing for the expansion of grain storage infrastructure, the acquisition of new agricultural machinery and equipment, as well as railway cars for grain transportation.
The bank expects that, thanks to the project, 1,100 additional permanent jobs will be created for new operations, 300 workers will be hired for the construction period and 15-20 local subcontracting small and medium-sized enterprises will be involved.
The EIB also indicates that this operation is covered by the political risk guarantee of the European Union for EIB loans outside the EU.
Epicenter K has been developing the agricultural business since 2016. The agricultural division of the Epicenter K group of companies cultivates over 120,000 hectares of land in Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Cherkasy, and Kyiv regions. The group also includes 20 livestock farms and six silos. Epicenter K plans to reach one million tonnes of grain storage capacity.
