Ukrainian Railways (UZ) has received a $150m senior loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to acquire up to 6,500 general purpose open freight gondola-type wagons.
The acquisition of rolling stock will help the state-owned rail company to improve its efficiency and overall services.
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Induction of railcars into regular services is expected to help the company reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
UZ will acquire the wagons through an open international tender process.
EBRD will also support UZ in streamlining procurement processes and implement an energy management information system to improve operational efficiency.
Besides purchasing the railcars, the EBRD financing will be utilised to introduce corporate governance reforms at UZ and its subsidiaries.
The company will devise and implement a Corporate Governance Action Plan and an Anti-Corruption Action Plan to hire independent directors, establish an audit committee and introduce various other anti-corruption measures.
Possessing more than 23,000km of combined total track length, UZ is said to be the sixth largest rail passenger transporter and the seventh largest freight transporter in the world.
Since 1993, EBRD has invested around €12.1bn in nearly 400 projects in Ukraine making it one of the largest international financial investors in the country.
Last month, EBRD awarded a €22m loan to support the modernisation works of Serbia’s state railways. The fund will be used to introduce a new ticketing system, as well as modernise various rail infrastructure in the country.
