OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2011. Joint Stock Company the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine will obtain USD 200mn from the World Bank for energy saving project financing, reported the press-centre of Ukreximbank.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a Law on Ratification of the Guarantee Agreement (Energy Efficiency Project) between Ukraine and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the IBRD). By virtue of this act 299 people’s deputies approved the loan under the sovereign guarantee in the amount of USD 200mn, which pursuant to the Loan Agreement dated 10.06.2011 the IBRD extended to Ukreximbank for Implementation of the Energy Efficiency Project.

The purpose of the Energy Efficiency Project is reduction of the energy intensity in the Ukrainian industry and decrease of energy losses in the residential sector, particularly, in heating and household maintenance. Ukreximbank will apply the 30-year maturity funds for the medium- and long-term financing of the energy efficiency investment projects of the Ukrainian industrial and municipal enterprises. Ukreximbank will provide loans under the Project both directly to the final borrowers and by relending through the Ukrainian commercial banks selected pursuant to the eligibility criteria established jointly with the World Bank.

The Guarantee Agreement ratification was preceded by considerable work on the draft Project preparation, the important milestones of which were: the Resolution On Expediency of the Loan Attraction from the World Bank taken by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in March 2011, official negotiations under the Project, which according to the Order of the President of Ukraine were successfully held in April this year by the Ukrainian delegation headed by Mykola Udovychenko, Chairman of the Board of Ukreximbank, the Project approval  by the Executive Directors of the World Bank at the meeting on May 17, 2011 and signing of the contract documents under the Project on June 10, 2011.

The choice of Ukreximbank as the direct borrower and the institution responsible for the Project implementation is motivated by its significant experience of successful cooperation with the World Bank in implementation of Export Development Project (1997-2004) and Export Development Project-2 (2006-current day), and substantial experience of the Bank in financing of energy efficiency programs in Ukraine, including joint financing of these projects with IFI’s.

According to Mykola Udovychenko, this Project elevates the cooperation between Ukreximbank and the World Bank to the higher level. The implementation of the Project will not only strengthen the positions of the Ukrainian enterprises, but will also contribute to the achievement of strategic goal – decreasing of the country dependence on energy carriers import, owing to the decrease of industrial energy consumption.