Earlier this week, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the city of Kyiv signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to coordinate further cooperation on financing and preparing priority investment projects for Ukraine’s capital, as the country sets sight on its post-war reconstruction.
Signed during the Kyiv Investment Forum 2022 in Brussels, the MoU provides a framework for further collaboration between Kyiv’s local authorities and the EIB on projects promoting resilience, growth and sustainability.
In particular, the two sides will cooperate to enable work on the city’s transport infrastructure, including a project aimed at modernising the rolling stock of Kyiv Metro. The current estimated project value is 450 million euros, which will aid efforts to end Kyiv’s reliance on Russian metro rolling stock and related spare parts. At present, 80 per cent of the city’s metro coaches are Russian-made, with more than half of those in need of modernisation, upgrading or replacement.
“Our cooperation with Kyiv City will contribute towards faster post-war reconstruction of the capital, support its sustainable urban development and accelerate Ukraine’s integration into the European Union. As the European Union bank, the EIB will continue to stand with Ukraine and increase investment in the development and post-war recovery of Kyiv and the country as a whole. I would like to thank the city of Kyiv for the opportunity to do even more for Ukrainians. Signing this memorandum builds on years of successful cooperation with Kyiv City and once again underscores the EIB’s unwavering commitment to supporting a free, democratic, independent and prosperous Ukraine.” said EIB Vice-President, Teresa Czerwińska.
In addition, Kyiv and EIB Global, the EIB Group’s non-EU operations branch, will begin preparing several other projects for the city’s sustainable urban development, such as the extension of the Kyiv Metro at an estimated cost of over 500 million euros, as well as the reconstruction of social housing affected by Russian bombings.
“Investments are the driving force of city development. Despite this horrific war, we are planning many interesting and promising projects that, firstly, will be profitable as investments. Secondly, they will help us overcome the consequences of the war and build Greater Kyiv, which is innovative, sustainable and successful. I am grateful to the European Investment Bank for its support, trust, and cooperation during this difficult time, and am delighted to see our firmly established cooperation continue.” said the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. “It is my hope that the new memorandum of understanding signed during the Kyiv Investment Forum will unlock important opportunities to rebuild and develop Kyiv with the support of EIB financing. We are very much looking forward to further discussions, especially on transport infrastructure projects: in particular, to modernise the rolling stock of the Kyiv Metro”.
Continued support and cooperation with Ukraine
The EIB and the Kyiv municipality have previously cooperated on a number of projects, including a 100 million euros upgrade to the capital’s electric urban transport, which was signed in 2021. This was the first sub-sovereign loan by the EIB to a municipality in Ukraine without a state guarantee. The implementation stage of the project is scheduled to commence in early 2023.
Prior to the war, the EIB and the Kyiv authorities also worked on several projects under EIB framework loans to modernise the capital’s trams, buses and funicular wagons, overhaul outdoor lighting networks and implement road safety measures in the city.
Since the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, the EIB Group has disbursed over 1.7 billion euros of EU financing to the Ukrainian government to meet the country’s urgent financial needs and support immediate reconstruction.
