The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it has provided a senior loan of EUR 25 million to PJSC “Myronivsky Hliboproduct” (MHP), a London Stock Exchange-listed Ukrainian producer of poultry meat, grain and fodder. The loan will be used to construct and put into operation a 10 MW biogas plant in the town of Ladyzhyn, Vinnytsia region. The biogas plant will utilise chicken manure and other agricultural residues from MHP’s poultry and grain operations.
According to a statement, the project will benefit from a US$358 000 grant available under the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme. It will support improvements in the technology of biogas production and the implementation of energy management system. It is expected that once operational, the biogas plant will reduce MHP greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents per annum.
Technical cooperation funds for the project were provided by the Japan-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF), a mechanism aimed at mobilising additional funding to finance capital-intensive infrastructure projects in EU partner countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in sectors such as transport, energy, environment and social development.
The EBRD’s FINTECC programme is designed to transfer technology in the area of climate change mitigation and adaptation and was launched in Ukraine in February 2016. The three-year FINTECC programme is supported by US$7 million of grant funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and an EUR 4 million grant from the EU’s NIF.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. To date, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost EUR 11.6 billion through 383 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.
