EBRD to focus on energy and four other areas during URC2025 in Rome

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to sign projects in the energy and financial sectors at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), as well as focus on human capital, municipal infrastructure and critical raw materials, the bank’s press service reported on Monday.

According to the published information, the EBRD will take over the management of the Ukraine FIRST fund, which will simplify planning, financing and implementation. The parallel fund will be administered by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The EBRD will also focus on energy security, so during the conference it is planned to sign new energy projects with a focus on distributed generation and renewable energy. The EBRD will also announce risk reduction tools for investors in renewable energy and sign new agreements with Ukrainian cities on loans, grants and guarantees.

Regarding the financial sector, the EBRD announced partial coverage of banks' risks, which will allow it to issue up to EUR900 million in the form of sub-loans to companies in critical sectors (agriculture, pharmaceuticals, logistics, housing).

In addition, the EBRD is investing in an early-stage tech fund together with the IFC (World Bank Group).

This is part of a broader strategy (EUR100 million) to attract EUR600 million in infrastructure funds, private and venture capital," the EBRD explained.

The bank will sign loan, advance, grant or guarantee agreements with several Ukrainian cities, continuing its strong support for municipal investments that help improve people's lives.

Another area that the EBRD will focus on at URC2025 is human capital, as 90% of the bank's projects take it into account. It is planned to present the "Human Capital Resilience Charter" together with the Ministry of Economy.

Attention will also be paid to critical raw materials, as the EBRD is interested in developing graphite deposits in Ukraine - the second stage of digitization of the geological archive of Ukraine is starting.

The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Ukraine - it has provided EUR7.2 billion and estimates the cost of restoration needs at EUR446 billion.