REUTERS
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, has adopted a Law "On ratification of the Financing Agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank (the project "Emergency credit program for recovery of Ukraine").
A total of 263 deputies out of 317 registered in the session hall voted for the decision, an UNIAN correspondent has reported.
The agreement was signed on December 22, 2014 in Kyiv by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk and Vice President of the European Investment Bank László Baranyai.
As noted in the annex to the financial agreement, "the purpose of the project is to support a multi-sectoral package of investment measures in the sector of municipal and social infrastructure in order to overcome the consequences of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which led to damaging the parts of Eastern Ukraine in the period from March to early September 2014.
The project will cover three geographical areas: adversely affected areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions; three surrounding areas (Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya) that are experiencing a lot of pressure on social services and other infrastructure due to a significant influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other violations related to the conflict; specific local councils in other areas receiving significant influx of IDPs.
In addition, the project aims at assisting in solving the problems of increased pressure on social infrastructure and resettlement.
As stated in the report of the Central Scientific Experts Office of the Ukrainian parliament, the project is a framework loan for financing investment in early restoration of small-scale multi-damaged infrastructure in order to overcome the consequences of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the areas of urgent repairs and measures to improve energy efficiency infrastructure for internally displaced persons; rehabilitation of water supply and drainage, including the repair of utilities networks, catchment plants, pumping stations, sewage treatment plants; rehabilitation and restoration of the generation, transmission and distribution of electric energy; rehabilitation of generation, transmission and distribution systems of centralized heat supply; reconstruction of (local, regional and national) roads and railways damaged as a result of the conflict, including bridges; repair and reconstruction of the state or public buildings; urgent repairs and energy efficiency measures in schools, health centers, hospitals, social centers, post offices, which provide financial services, and other related buildings; and any other mandatory measures on rapid reconstruction needed to ensure the living conditions and livelihoods, in compliance with EIB criteria.
Ratification of the agreement will contribute to the implementation of measures to overcome the negative effects of geopolitical events in eastern Ukraine, the problems related to ensuring the needs of internally displaced persons, rehabilitation of basic infrastructure in Donetsk and Lugansk regions controlled by Ukrainian state, according to the bill.