The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, has signed a $100 million loan to help rebuild eastern Ukraine.
The EBRD, the World Bank’s lending arm, will supply the loan to fund a project called Eastern Ukraine: Reunification, Reconstruction and Revival.
It will help pay for 183 kilometers of roads in Luhansk Oblast and help attract agricultural investment to replace what has been damaged or destroyed due to Russia’s war in the Donbas.
“Creating comfortable conditions for citizens and creating jobs are priorities,” said Oleksei Reznikov, deputy prime minister for reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.
The project aims to increase economic opportunities, cohesion and inclusion in the socio-economic life of the country of communities affected by the Russia-backed war by attracting investment in local infrastructure.
The loan is for 27 years with a 0.25% interest. The ministries of finance and reintegration will need to agree on the specific use of the funds.
Reznikov said that reconstruction efforts are initially focused on the Ukraine-controlled areas, but will target currently occupied areas once they are freed.
The World Bank’s current investment in Ukraine amounts to $2.8 billion in nine ongoing projects. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, the Bank’s commitments to the country have totaled approximately $13 billion in about 70 projects and programs.
In another boost for eastern Ukraine, last week, the European Investment Bank loaned 640 million euros to modernize infrastructure in Luhansk and improve public transport throughout Ukraine.
This was a direct result of last year’s investment forum RE:Think held in Mariupol in 2019, where the government pitched 120 major infrastructure projects and signed 12 important memoranda with financial institutions.
The cost of reconstructing the Donbas was variously estimated from 10 billion to 22 billion euros.
