Naftogaz completes repayment of $300 mln EBRD loan

Friday, May 20, 2016 - 22:00 (EEST) Section: Latest news

National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine has paid the last tranche of the loan together with interest on the renewable credit line of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the amount of $300 million, according to a company statement.
”On May 16, Naftogaz of Ukraine paid the last tranche of the loan on a renewable credit line agreed with the EBRD last year. Between December 2015 and January 2016, Naftogaz made full use of the available funds on the loan in the amount of $300 million. Interest payments and repayment of the loan were made on time,” the company said.
According to the report, the EBRD credit line is valid until 2018, and Naftogaz will be able to use it during the next two heating seasons.
In the last heating season, Ukraine purchased 1.7 billion bcm of gas for the EBRD loan funds. The weighted average cost of gas purchases in Europe for loan funds at points of delivery was $193 per 1,000 cubic meters. Suppliers of Naftogaz for the money of the EBRD loan were Noble Clean Fuels Limited, Engie SA, Axpo Trading AG, E.ON Global Commodities SE, and Eni Trading & Shipping S.p.A., which were determined in a competitive procurement process, the press service said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the EBRD in September 2015 allocated $300 million for Naftogaz for the purchase of gas from European companies. The decision was taken by the Board of Directors on  September 30, and secured with the loan and guarantee agreements signed during a Ukrainian-German summit in Berlin in mid-October.
According to the EBRD representative office in Ukraine, the agreement was signed based on a decision of the Council of Directors of the EBRD on granting a loan, and after being approved by the parties of a reform of Ukraine`s key energy holding Naftogaz of Ukraine.
On April 28, 2016, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said that the company intended to repay the loan to the EBRD in May 2016.