OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2007. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a ?26 million sovereign guaranteed loan to Illichivsk Sea Commercial Port, one of the largest ports in Ukraine. The fifteen-year loan will help the port carry out a programme of modernisation that includes berth reconstruction, procurement of the cargo handling equipment and dredging works, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

According to Sue Barrett, the EBRD’s Acting Director for Transport, the project fits perfectly with the Bank’s transport strategy for Ukraine. It will help in resolving a critical transport bottleneck in the region by supporting modernisation of major general cargo handling facilities in the Black Sea area. Furthermore, it will support corporate development and commercialisation of the Port through introducing business planning, IFRS audit and strengthening of the Port’s in-house capacity in strategic development and management of its relationships with the private operators, she said.

Technical Cooperation support for this project was provided by the European Union (EU) under a TACIS-funded framework contract for technical and environmental due-diligence. Support was also provided under the EU’s 2002 Investment Preparation Facility, to assist with the corporate development of the Port.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of the end October 2007 it had committed over ?3 billion through more than 155 projects.