The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan of up to €8m to Kremenchuk municipal trolleybus company (KTU) in Ukraine.

The loan will be used to acquire 50 new low-floor trolleybuses, spare parts and maintenance tools, as well as workshop maintenance and diagnostic equipment for the new fleet.

The loan is guaranteed by the municipality and supported by an investment grant of up to €2m from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), to which the EU is the largest contributor.

“The EBRD is grateful to E5P and the EU for their crucial support for the project.”

The investment is reported to be the first urban transport project in Ukraine to benefit from an E5P grant.

Kremenchuk mayor Vitaliy Maletsky said: “The EBRD project will allow for a complete renewal of the electric transport fleet in Kremenchuk for the first time in the history of the city.

“Its implementation will provide the residents of all districts of the city with comfortable, affordable and environmentally friendly public transport."

The project will help the municipality to renew almost its entire trolleybus fleet, which will improve the scope and quality of its services, as well as reduce hazardous emissions such as CO2, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

To be procured by next year, the new trolleybuses will be 20% more efficient in comparison to the existing buses, most of which are at least 15 years old.

EBRD Eastern Europe and the Caucasus managing director Francis Malige said: “By financing this project, we are not only supporting ecologically clean and modern municipal service. We are also providing affordable transport and services to low income families and senior citizens.

“The EBRD is grateful to E5P and the EU for their crucial support for the project, without which it would have never materialised.”

The project is implemented under the Ukraine Public Transport Framework approved by the EBRD last year.

Image: EBRD to provide a loan of up to €8m to Kremenchuk municipal trolleybus company (KTU) in Ukraine. Photo: courtesy of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.