Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide Ukraine with a EUR 135 million grant for the Chornobyl Shelter Fund and the Nuclear Safety Account, which were opened to tackle the aftermath of the disaster at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant's fourth reactor in 1986.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and EBRD President Thomas Mirow signed a respective agreement on Monday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent said.

Tymoshenko said that the allocation of these funds would ensure significant progress in the implementation of this program. She added that the construction of a new shelter facility over the nuclear plant remains a top priority for Ukraine.

Tymoshenko also said that government is planning to increase the effectiveness of the country's cooperation with the EBRD. Among the most promising directions of cooperation in 2009-2010, she pointed to the issue of raising the effectiveness of the Ukrainian economy, energy development and support for the country's financial sector.

"We are meeting at a difficult time, when the crisis is raging, and we would like to discuss with you what we should do together to help Ukraine settle the crisis," Mirow said.

He said that the bank had recently invested EUR 4 billion in Ukraine.

As reported, in Kyiv in May 2008, the EBRD approved the allocation of a EUR 135 million grant for Chornobyl programs, out of the EUR 1.1 billion worth of income gained in 2007.