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The World Bank (WB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Friday signed a deal on financial guarantees for Ukraine's gas purchases, according to Russian news agency TASS.
"The EIB will guarantee up to $520 million of selected World Bank loans in Ukraine, which will enable the World Bank to guarantee letter of credit facilities for gas purchases by Ukraine gas company Naftogaz," the WB said in a statement, the report says.
The agreement, signed by EIB President Werner Hoyer and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in Lima, Peru, was "facilitated by a counter-guarantee of the European Union granting comprehensive cover to the EIB linked to risks of these selected WB loans in Ukraine."
Werner Hoyer said in comments to the decision: "European and global institutions are committed to helping Ukraine avert a potentially severe energy crisis as winter approaches. The guarantee agreement we signed today will facilitate Ukraine's purchase of gas at a critical time."
Jim Yong Kim said "the new agreement is part of our broad support to the restructuring of the gas sector in Ukraine and it will contribute to adequate gas supplies for the next three years."
In the last 18 months, the World Bank Group has provided more than $4.1 billion to Ukraine in budget support, investment operations and private sector financing, including $3.875 billion from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.