The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ukraine’s largest international financial investor, wants to encourage more Ukrainians to use public transport.
The EBRD loaned Kyiv 50 million euros to buy 50 new metro cars that will comprise 10 metro trains, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. Today, Ukraine has 800 metro cars but many of them have to be replaced or renovated, Klitschko said.
The new subway trains will serve Kyiv’s 24-kilometer northwestern green line, which goes from Syrets to Chervoniy Hutir and includes stations like Zoloti Vorota, Lukianivska, Palats Sportu and Druzhby Narodiv.
By the end of the year, Klitschko also promises to open two new metro stations — Mostytska and Prospekt Pravdy — that will connect Syrets with Kyiv’s northwestern Vynohradar neighborhood. Their construction cost is nearly $215 million
As of February, Kyiv has built over 700 meters of the tunnel between the stations (out of 1.3 kilometers). It is a long-awaited construction project for many Kyivans who struggle to commute from Vynohradar to downtown Kyiv.
The EBRD helps Kyiv expand its metro so more people could switch from private cars to more environmentally friendly means of transport, according to Matteo Patrone, EBRD’s managing director for Eastern Europe.
Kyiv is notorious for its traffic jams so reducing the number of cars on the roads will benefit the city, according to the EBRD.
The money will also support Ukraine’s public transport that suffered losses during the pandemic.
Kyiv Metro, for example, lost half of its passenger traffic last year. Before the pandemic, the metro would make an average of $6 million a month. But during the strict quarantine in March–May, its earnings plummeted to about $225,000 a month.
In October, the EBRD gave Ukraine 350 million euros to buy 400 new trolleybuses in 12 Ukrainian cities.
In 2020, it also loaned 450 million euros to state road agency Ukravtodor to build new roads, fight corruption and support transparency in procurement.
State postal operator Ukrposhta, in turn, received a 63 million loan from the EBRD to build new sorting centers and modernize its tech in Ukraine’s towns and villages.
To date, the bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost 14.5 billion euros through 486 projects in the country.
