Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko met with a delegation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) headed by Odile Renaud-Basso, where the sides discussed further cooperation in the implementation of environmental and infrastructure projects in the Ukrainian capital.
“This year, we plan to complete the repayment of loans under the 2007 loan agreements, which allowed us to purchase 202 new trolleybuses, some 185 buses and 50 metro cars,” Klitschko said on the klichko.org website on Tuesday.
In addition to the urban transport renewal program, the meeting also discussed a project worth EUR 140 million to modernize the heating system of the Ukrainian capital. The EBRD provided a loan for the implementation of the project to the city within the Green Cities program.
Renaud-Basso stressed the interest of the EBRD in cooperation with the municipality of Kyiv.
She said the EBRD officials see the same priority areas of cooperation: roads, bridges, transport and environmental infrastructure. They are ready for closer cooperation, as well as they are ready to continue to provide support and attract investments to contribute to the sustainable development of the city in the face of global challenges.
In the period from May 1 to May 12, 2020, state-owned banks issued UAH 67 million of energy efficiency financing to those who plan to improve energy efficiency of their homes in 2020, according to the Energy Reform Internet portal.
State Agency of Ukraine on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving said on Wednesday, May 13, that last week financing was received by another 1,544 households and some 122 associations of multi-apartment block co-owners took advantage of the program, namely, more than UAH 35 million for thermal insulation of apartment buildings, about UAH 32 million for energy efficient measures in private households, UAH 900,000 for solid fuel boilers.
“In fact, more energy efficiency financing was issued for a week than for the entire month of April, which amounted to UAH 63 million. More than UAH 130 million of financing for energy efficiency purposes has been issued to the population and the associations of multi-apartment block co-owners since the beginning of the program,” the agency said.
Around 1,000 clinics have increased financing from the central bank under phase two of the healthcare reform, acting Head of the National Health Service of Ukraine Oksana Movchan has said. “About 1,000 medical institutions received more money from the central budget under contracts with the National Health Service, some of them by 70%, some by 5%, some by 50%,” she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
She said that medical institutions have two sources of financing – the central budget and the local one.
“The National Health Service manages the money of the central budget. Previously, it was a healthcare subvention, but now it is a healthcare guarantee program. In 2020, more money was allocated from the central budget for the healthcare guarantee program,” she said.
At the same time, according to her, about 600 medical institutions for various reasons received less money from the central budget.
State-controlled Oschadbank and Ukreximbank (Kyiv) have signed an agreement on cooperation with the State Agency of Ukraine on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving under the program of energy efficiency financing for the population in 2020.
According to a statement on the website of Ukreximbank, the financial institution will provide energy efficiency financing for individuals for energy efficient measures in private houses with the possibility of receiving compensation for 35% of the loan amount, but not more than UAH 14,000.
In order to obtain advice from a loan specialist and determine the time of a visit to a bank office, individuals need to contact the nearest office of the financial institution by telephone in advance. Such measures have been taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and minimize contacts between citizens during the quarantine period, the bank said in the statement.
According to the agency’s statement on its Facebook page on Thursday, April 16, Oschadbank will provide energy efficiency financing to individuals for the purchase of gas boilers with solid fuel, energy efficient materials and equipment for private houses, as well as for associations of multi-apartment block co-owners for the introduction of energy-efficient measures multi-apartment buildings.
Germany’s Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) has approved $20 million financing to Astarta agricultural holding.
“The project will help the company to secure long-term working capital financing and capital expenditure program,” the company said in a report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
According to a posting on DEG’s website, the financing is long-term one, but no other details are presented.
The German corporation said that some funds will be sent to buy newest equipment and modernization of production technology to cut natural resource consumption.
DEG is a subsidiary of Germany’s KfW development bank.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agribusiness holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. The holding includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms, a biogas plant and a soybean processing complex in Poltava region.
The law amending the law on automobile roads regarding the audit of road safety will open access to better financing of road construction by international financial institution (IFIs) for Ukraine, Senior Sector Engineer of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Per Mathiasen said at a press conference devoted to the results of the EIB Implementation Support to the Ukraine Urban Road Safety Project in Kyiv on Tuesday.
The European Investment Bank, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, all of them stress the importance of road safety, he said.
Mathiasen said that Ukraine needed to change the construction of roads for the safety of road users.
The new law will ensure that safety will become an integral part of the design and planning of new roads, he said.
In addition, according to Mathiasen, the law will make new roads safe and accessible for everyone: cars, cyclists and public transport.
In turn, Deputy Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Natalia Forsiuk recalled that the government has set two key goals in the field of road infrastructure: “reducing travel time by 10% and reducing the number of traffic accidents by 30%.”
“That is, traffic safety is the only immediate priority of the government [in this area],” she said.
The main priority of the EIB Implementation Support to the Ukraine Urban Road Safety Project, which is funded by the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund and implemented by Egis Ukraine, is the development of the law of Ukraine on automobile roads regarding the audit of road safety, preparation of technical documentation and boosting the capacity necessary to implement the road infrastructure safety management procedures and to promote the adoption of the law and its enforcement.
In order to implement this project, on October 17, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law amending certain legislative acts of Ukraine on road safety management. The law contains most of the provisions of EU Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management, which is a version of the EU law on road infrastructure safety management procedures.
As reported, acting head of the State Automobile Roads Authority of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) Slawomir Nowak said that EBRD and EIB are ready to provide Ukraine with a targeted loan in the amount of EUR 900 million for the development of the road industry in 2020.
The level of road accidents in Ukraine is much higher than in EU countries.
