The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €152m finance contract to extend its support for the existing Dnipropetrovsk Metro project extension in Ukraine for more than 25 years.
Signed in Luxembourg by Ukrainian finance minister Yurij Kolobov and EIB vice-president László Baranyay, the contract represents strengthened ties and operations between the countries.
The project funding by EIB will be co-financed along with EBRD and will include a comprehensive technical assistance package.
The contract comes at a time when Ukraine and the EU are gearing up for the Association Agreement, which is likely to be signed by 30 November during the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
Under the Dnipropetrovsk Metro extension programme, which is a major transport infrastructure project for Ukraine with an investment of €305m, the existing line will be extended by 4km, along with addition of three stations.
Considered to be shortest metro system in the world, the 7.1km Dnipropetrovsk Metro line starts at the Vokzalna station and ends at the Komunarivska station.
The extension project is expected to be completed by 2018 and seeks to bring the positive effects of metro service closer to serve high urban density environment and activity.
By bringing the metro service nearer to the city centre, the project also intends to achieve significant noise reductions and lower CO2 emissions in the urban areas.
Implementation of the Dnipropetrovsk Metro project will also aim to satisfy the climate change mitigation policy of EIB.