- EBRD lends €25 million to city of Kharkiv to tackle impact of war
- Emergency support to ensure essential municipal services continue functioning
- Loan is co-financed by €10 million grant from USA, with a partial guarantee from Spain
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending €25 million to the city of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine. The loan will help ensure the provision of vital municipal services in the city and mitigate the effects of the ongoing war.
The Bank’s senior loan will be co-financed by a €10 million grant from the United States of America and supported by a partial external guarantee from Spain.
Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second city, with a current population of approximately 1.2 million people, including 140,000 internally displaced who moved to Kharkiv after the war started.
Russian shelling and missile attacks have significantly damaged the city’s infrastructure, resulting in civilian casualties, temporary blackouts and disruptions to electricity, heat and water supplies.
The EBRD loan will provide liquidity for the city’s municipal operators – communal enterprises Kharkivsky Metropoliten, Trolleybus Depot No. 2, Saltiv Tram Depot and Kharkiv Heat Networks.
The emergency funds are expected to support key municipal utilities and public transport operators by addressing their critical liquidity needs to ensure the uninterrupted provision of essential public services.
Since February 2022 the EBRD has deployed €5 billion in Ukraine, focusing on supporting energy security, vital infrastructure, food security, trade and the private sector, alongside key policy reforms. The EBRD’s Board of Governors approved in 2023 a capital increase of €4 billion to support investment both in wartime and reconstruction.
