The European Investment Bank (EIB), the world’s largest multilateral lender, will provide Ukraine with 270 million euros to modernize the country’s main international gateway — state-owned Kyiv Boryspil International Airport.
The loan will be used to improve energy efficiency, aviation safety and security, and operational sustainability at Ukraine’s largest airport that accounts for more than 60% of all the passenger air traffic in the country.
Air travel has been one of the hardest-hit industries by the coronavirus pandemic, forcing many airlines to go out of business or to lay off hundreds of thousands of people. Large amounts of revenue were lost due to reduced passenger traffic and flights being canceled or flying empty between airports.
As Kyiv Boryspil International Airport continues to face one of the most challenging times, the investment is meant to enable the reconstruction of the second maneuvering area, which includes upgrading the already-existing runway that has been used for landing and takeoff of aircraft since 1971.
Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy stated that the reconstruction would bring the airport to modern standards, and the recommendations set by international organizations regulating international travel at a state-level and private sector will be taken into account.
The repayment period is 20 years, while the grace period for the loan is three years.
“As an EU bank, the EIB is deeply committed to supporting our neighbors in the Eastern Partnership region and Ukraine in particular,” wrote EIB President Werner Hoye in the bank’s press release.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who signed an agreement on the financial package with Hoyer at the bank’s headquarters in Luxembourg on Feb. 12, spoke that cooperation with the EU bank will gradually increase passenger traffic to 56 million people in 2040.
In 2020 alone, the EU bank invested over 1 billion euros in Ukraine to recover from the pandemic and its economic consequences, marking the second largest investment in the history of its activities in the country.
Apart from providing the loan to upgrade Ukraine’s main airport, EIB has also allocated 50 million euros to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and refrigerators for their storage as well as equipping vaccination centers across the country.
