OREANDA-NEWS. On June 17, 2007 representatives of the shareholders of the EBRD began a six-day visit to Ukraine. The Board of Directors represents the Bank's 63 public shareholders and has to approve all Bank projects before they are put into action, reported the press-centre of  EBRD.

The visit will take the participants to the important Ukrainian industrial cities of Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhye in the south and centre of the country as well as the capital of Ukraine, Kiev. The Directors are planning to see existing and prospective clients of the Bank in Ukraine including Illichevsk Sea Port, Dnipropetrovsk Oil Extraction Plant (Oleina TM), Zaporizhstal Steel Mill and SBK brick producer. During their stay the Board members will meet senior representatives of the national and regional authorities as well as representatives of the diplomatic and business communities and civil society.

Representatives of the Board in the delegation will be Alain de Cointet, representing France; Joao Cravinho, representing Portugal and Greece; Gonzalo Ramos, representing Spain and Mexico; Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, representing Poland, Bulgaria and Albania; Igor Podoliev, representing Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia; Rainald Roesch, representing Germany; Irena Sodin, representing Slovenia, Belgium and Luxembourg and Terence Brown, representing the European Investment Bank.

In 2006 new annual commitments reached 800 m EUR – the second biggest annual commitment of the Bank after Russia. Overall, Ukraine has become EBRD's third largest investment destination after Russia and Poland, representing 8,7% of the Bank's signed commitments.

Ukraine’s recent economic performance has been strong, with real GDP growth rebounding in 2006, driven by robust domestic demand and favourable external conditions. Political uncertainty has had limited economic impact, but may affect investment growth and slow down private capital inflows if it is protracted.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of the end January 2007 it had committed over ?2,87 billion through more than 130 projects.