EBRD President reaffirms steadfast support for Ukraine on seventh wartime visit

• EBRD President makes seventh wartime visit to Ukraine
• Meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, senior officials and business leaders
• President Renaud-Basso reaffirms EBRD support for Ukrainian businesses amid increasing destruction of logistics, transport and energy infrastructure by Russian attacks

The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso, visited Ukraine  this week for talks with government and business leaders on support for the Ukrainian economy amid the deteriorating economic and security situation in the country.

The visit comes at a critical time: intensifying Russian attacks on energy, transport, logistics and civilian infrastructure, as well as the renewed blockade of Black Sea ports, have significantly strained Ukrainian businesses and the economy, just as Ukraine prepares for another difficult winter.

“It is clear that Russia’s war on Ukraine has entered a new phase,” commented President Renaud-Basso. “With increased strikes on Ukrainian business and economic assets, Russia now aims to paralyse the Ukrainian economy. In this increasingly challenging time, ensuring that companies can keep operating, protect supply chains and continue investing has never been more crucial.

"I continue to be impressed by the resilience of Ukraine’s private sector. Businesses are adapting to the new reality, adjusting their business models and building buffers to absorb the increased cost of Russia’s aggression.

"Our goal is to ensure this can continue, that businesses have the financing and support they need to continue operating. We are working to swiftly deliver critical energy and infrastructure projects and provide appropriate instruments to help our clients withstand further shocks.”

Accompanied by the Bank’s Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova, Arvid Tuerkner, President Renaud-Basso visited Lviv and Kyiv to discuss business needs and the government’s key priorities.

During the visit, President Renaud-Basso met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Economy and Environment Oleksandr Kravchenko, and the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyy.

During a meeting with Minister for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk, President Renaud-Basso signed an agreement enabling up to €130 million of emergency liquidity support for Ukrainian Railways (UZ). The financing will help ensure continued essential passenger and freight services and support the company’s financial resilience and reform programme. UZ continues to operate under severe pressure from increased attacks on transport infrastructure and growing operational costs.

During the visit to the Ukrainian capital, the delegation signed a €150 million loan agreement with the City of Kyiv, supported by the government of Spain, to finance the renewal of Kyiv Metro’s railcar fleet.

In Lviv, the EBRD president signed a pre-financing agreement with Mayor Andriy Sadovyi to support a new integrated energy system for Lviv's electric public transport network. The Bank expects to finance new charging hubs, distributed battery storage nodes, medium-voltage network infrastructure and solar power capacity to help make the city's electric transport more resilient to power outages.

Together with the mayor, President Renaud-Basso also visited UNBROKEN, a specialised hospital providing rehabilitation services for veterans and civilians affected by war, as well as the Hrybovychi landfill, the remediation of which was financed by the EBRD. 

The EBRD has significantly stepped up its investment in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, deploying €11 billion there since 2022, including a record €2.9 billion last year. The EBRD remains a committed and steadfast partner to Ukraine.