The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide JSC Ukrzaliznytsia with an additional EUR300 million loan for the purchase of 80 modern freight electric locomotives, the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia reported on Wednesday.

The corresponding agreement, which the company announced at the end of May, was supported by a memorandum between Ukrzaliznytsia, the EBRD and the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and Infrastructure, which was signed on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin.

“The issue of updating the locomotive fleet for Ukrzaliznytsia is critical and extremely important ... Obtaining new and high-tech electric locomotives will significantly increase the efficiency of freight transportation,” emphasized the head of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia, Yevhen Liaschenko.

At the end of May, the company announced a $190 million U.S. grant through the World Bank Trust Fund as part of the Repairing Essential Logistics Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (RELINC) project.

A proposal for the purchase of 80 electric locomotives with a total cost of about $400 million has already been published on the EBRD tender portal. The tender requirements stipulate that the winner, in addition to supplying locomotives, must create conditions on the territory of Ukraine for their maintenance and warranty repairs.