• EBRD lends €270 million to Ukraine gas firm Naftogaz to build up strategic reserves
• Norway complements sovereign-guaranteed loan with €139 million grant
• Project aims to mitigate wartime disruption to Naftogaz production
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting energy security in Ukraine by lending €270 million to the state-owned gas entity, Naftogaz. The EBRD investment will finance emergency gas purchases for the next two heating seasons. Norway is complementing the sovereign-guaranteed loan with a €139 million grant, funded through the EBRD Crisis Response Special Fund.
The EBRD has invested over €2 billion in Ukraine’s energy sector since Russia invaded in 2022. EBRD energy funding helps ensure vital energy provision for millions of people and businesses, both through state-owned companies such as Naftogaz and private companies, despite months of targeted Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
The situation in Ukraine remains fluid and may require Naftogaz, as Ukraine’s supplier of last resort, to quickly procure more critical gas imports. The exact timing and volumes will depend on the length and intensity of the war, among other factors.
Naftogaz has been the recipient of two previous EBRD loans for a total of €500 million, backed by €275 million in guarantees from the United States, Norway, Germany, France, Canada and The Netherlands, and complemented by earlier grant finance from Norway of €187 million for emergency gas purchases. The latest agreement lifts EBRD finance for Naftogaz to €770 million since 2022.
Norway’s latest grant finance brings its total wartime energy sector-focussed support for Ukraine through the EBRD to €460 million.
The EBRD is Ukraine’s largest institutional lender. It has significantly increased its lending to make a total of €6.5 billion available to the country since 2022. It has secured agreement from its shareholders for a capital increase of €4 billion to continue lending at this level in wartime and raise its finance further when the time comes for reconstruction.