EBRD approves EUR 4B capital increase to provide funds to Ukraine

The Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved an EUR 4 billion capital increase that will enable the bank to double its Ukraine investments.

That’s according to Reuters, Ukrinform reports.

The increase, the third in the bank's history, will bring its capital base to EUR 34 billion once it takes effect on December 31, 2024.

The EBRD noted that the additional capital from shareholders will be used “to provide significant and sustained investment for Ukraine’s real economy, both in wartime and in reconstruction”.

It is noted that the additional capital will strengthen the EBRD, enabling it to continue providing a sustained level of annual investment in Ukraine of around EUR 1.5 billion during wartime, supported entirely by its own balance sheet, and to have the means to increase its support up to EUR 3 billion annually once reconstruction begins.

The EBRD has been the largest institutional investor in Ukraine for the past 30 years, greatly boosting its support since Russia's 2022 invasion. It deployed EUR 3 billion ($3.3 billion) to Ukraine for 2022-2023.

In June, ratings agency Fitch pegged the EBRD's net exposure to guarantees to Ukraine at EUR 2.5 billion in June, accounting for 12.8% as a ratio of shareholder equity.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement on an EUR 150 million loan to support NPC Ukrenergo through the heating season.