By KYIV. Sept 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrzaliznytsia will be able to use the balance of the EUR 150 million loan from the European Investment Bank approved in 2016, which was originally planned to be spent on the construction of a second track, electrification and modernization of signaling and communication systems on the Dolynska-Mykolaiv-Kolosivka route, for urgent needs of EUR 100 million.
According to Taras Melnychuk, the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, on Telegram, the government made the corresponding decision at a meeting on Friday.
The Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, in turn, clarified that the funds under the new budget program would be used to build, modernize and repair railway infrastructure facilities, as well as to purchase freight cars and other means of transportation.
As reported, in June 2023, the EIB and Ukrzaliznytsia signed the agreement, according to which they also reconsidered the appointment of a grant from the European Union in the amount of EUR 6.7 million for the urgent needs of railway transport in Ukraine, while initially it was supposed to accompany the EIB project for the electrification of the railway network on south of Ukraine.
The European Investment Bank is one of the largest creditors in Ukraine. To date, the portfolio of projects implemented by the EIB with the Ukrainian public, utilities and business sectors is more than EUR 7 billion.
