The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has had a video conference with the leadership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The talks gathered together EBRD Vice Presidents Alain Pilloux and Pierre Heilbronn, EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone, EBRD Managing Director for Economics, Policy and Governance Mattia Romani, Deputy EBRD Head in Ukraine Mark Magalesky, Deputy EBRD Head in Ukraine Iryna Kravchenko.

From the Ukrainian side, there were participating in the talks Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhii Marchenko, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Petrashko, acting Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Olha Buslavets and others.

Denys Shmyhal thanked the EBRD for its consistent support of Ukraine and noted that the EBRD "has been and still remains a major institutional investor in Ukraine's economy." "The year of 2019 was the most successful for Ukraine in terms of cooperation with the EBRD both regarding volumes of annual commitments and the number of projects. Last year, more than 50 projects, including commercial regional ones, were organized in Ukraine with the support of the EBRD. I would like us to preserve the gained pace without reducing the performance," said Denys Shmyhal.

Moreover, the PM added that the previous year Ukraine had demonstrated a record takedown of EBRD resource - more than EUR 950 million, while the volume of operating assets increased by almost 20%. "Undoubtedly, we want and strive to reach the annual volume of EBRD investments in Ukraine at the level of EUR 1 billion euros. The purpose of the projects financed by the Bank fully meets the requirements of the national economy and European integration strategy of Ukraine," said the Head of the Ukrainian Government.

In response, EBRD Vice President Alain Pilloux stressed that Ukraine is among the priorities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. According to Alain Pilloux, the EBRD is ready to implement a number of projects together with Ukraine and "to move on with their components." According to the Vice President of the EBRD, it applies to the reconstruction of the Kyiv-Odesa highway and the construction of a bypass road in Lviv. Also, according to him, the EBRD has embarked on considering lending to Ukrainian regions for the construction of roads of regional importance, starting with Dnipro and Kherson.

For his part, Denys Shmyhal expressed interest in the implementation of these projects, noting that Ukraine is looking for options for road infrastructure development in the regions and cooperation with the EBRD is among the priorities for the Government. "From the pilot project, we will be ready to switch to funding in all regions," the Head of Government said.

Regarding the work on other projects, including the bypass in Lviv, and the reconstruction of the Kyiv-Odesa highway, Denys Shmyhal stressed that these projects are of top priority and the Government expresses commitment to promote these projects to ensure their faster implementation.

Apart from that, the parties focused on energy industry development, improvement of corporate governance in state-owned enterprises and banks, implementation of the standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Ukraine and other topical issues.

"We will be happy to develop and deepen our cooperation, to launch new projects in agriculture, infrastructure, logistics and other areas. We are grateful to the EBRD team for their support," Denys Shmyhal concluded.