31 Oct 2022 11:21

Ukrenergo may receive grants from EBRD to repair damaged infrastructure - advisor to Ukrainian PM

MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian national electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo may receive not only loans but also grants from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to repair damage caused to power grids, advisor to the Ukrainian prime minister and member of Ukrenergo's supervisory board Yuriy Boiko said.

"Ukrenergo and the EBRD are working on a new project within which the company should receive a 300-million-euro loan. A significant part of this funding would be allotted specifically for restoring damaged infrastructure. At the same time, a possibility of providing a certain sum additionally, this time around as a grant, is under consideration now. No details have yet been determined here, and other donors could join this project," Boiko said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists.

The EBRD is also considering the provision of financial assistance to Ukrenergo, its size still being discussed, he said.

Boiko said that, in his opinion, this would only mark the start of real assistance.

Ukrenergo recently received a 97-million-euro loan from the EBRD, and part of this sum should be given to green energy producers to refund their losses from dispatch limitations, he said.

Ukrainian media have reported with reference to Artem Shevalev, a member of the EBRD board of directors, that the EBRD is considering the disbursement of an extra loan of 300 million euros to buy equipment and maintain current liquidity following EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso's visit to Ukraine in October.

While the decision has yet to be approved by the board of directors, the decision itself was made unprecedentedly quickly for the international financial institution, Shevalev said.

The funds are to be spent primarily on purchasing equipment for restoring damaged power grids and maintaining the company's current liquidity, he said.

"The funding will be utilized before the end of the year," he said.

The EBRD said on August 26 that it would offer 97.3 million euros to Ukrenergo to maintain its liquidity amid the crisis. Thus, the bank will repurpose part of a 149-million-euro loan it had issued to Ukraine back in 2019 for upgrading its key power transmission infrastructure elements and other purposes. Another 50 million euros had been allocated before.