On March 7, 2018, Philip Bennett, First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Francis Malige, Managing Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for Eastern Europe and Caucasus, and Sevki Acuner, Director of the EBRD for Ukraine, visited NIBULON’s facilities in Mykolaiv as part of a visit to Ukraine.
We would remind you that representatives of the Board of Directors of the bank have visited the company for the third time in order to make sure that NIBULON is implementing its investment project in a timely and successful manner. In particular, last autumn Francis Malige and Sevki Acuner visited one of the company’s facilities, “Gradyz’k” branch (Poltava region), which was built thanks to funds of the EBRD. And the first visit of the EBRD Board of Directors took place in September 2012 to another NIBULON’s branch in Globyne town (Poltava region).
The EBRD and NIBULON are long-standing and reliable partners. The partnership started in 2010 when a loan was allocated to a Ukrainian company. Today, experts from the Ukrainian company and the European Bank work together to ensure that investment projects are implemented as efficiently as possible, and the funds allocated are used for the benefit of the Ukrainian economy. Thus, in July 2017, the EBRD and NIBULON signed an agreement to extend the syndicated loan in the amount of USD 90 million during solemn opening of NIBULON´s new transshipment terminal in Hola Prystan (Kherson region).   A few weeks ago, the news about a USD 50 million loan of the EBRD allocated to NIBULON to continue its project for river transportation revival went the round of Ukraine. The agreement became part of the company’s large project on the construction of transshipment terminals and the fleet for a total amount of more than USD 200 million.
“We came here to see on our own eyes once again how successfully NIBULON is implementing the projects for which we and other financial institutions provide funds for. So, we are happy to see that NIBULON is helping to develop the country´s infrastructure, river infrastructure, to facilitate transportation of grain to help thereby the economic growth of the country”, said Sevki Acuner.
Today, here in Mykolaiv, NIBULON is implementing its large-scale investment projects aimed at modernizing the logistics in Ukraine and raising the domestic economy to a new level with the support of this international financial and credit institute. For the first time in the history of our state, a private company has started to revive inland waterways and shipbuilding, industries that were previously considered to be lost forever.
In Mykolaiv, the guests had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the results of the large-scale reconstruction of the capacities of NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard and the implementation of the company’s shipbuilding program, as well as with the construction progress of the transshipment complex for shipment of grain and oilseeds as part of the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv with a capacity of about 43 thousand tons.
Francis Malige was impressed with what he saw at the transshipment terminal and at the company´s shipbuilding and repair yard, “It is not my first time in NIBULON, but it’s my first time in Mykolaiv in NIBULON. It’s heartwarming to see such a lively enterprise continuing to add value to the Ukrainian grain sector that absolutely needs modern transport infrastructure, not just for NIBULON, but also for the growth of the agricultural sector in Ukraine”.
“I am also impressed not just with a physical infrastructure, but with the idea that has built all of this. The recognition of the opportunity to achieve something I think is the essence of the entrepreneurship. Many other people looked at this very same facility and didn’t see the opportunity like NIBULON did, like the owners of NIBULON did. And I am very pleased and impressed. We are very happy with our partnership. We are happy that we have such a long history but we are also looking forward to further opportunities to help build this infrastructure”, said Philip Bennett.
During the meeting, a People’s Deputy of Ukraine Andriy Vadaturskyy joined in it. He heads the inter-faction deputy association “For the Development of Rivers of Ukraine” and consistently deals with legislative activity aimed at development of inland waterways and shipbuilding industry of Ukraine; he is a co-author of the draft law No. 2475 а-3 “On Inland Water Transport”.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a long-standing partner of NIBULON. We are grateful for this and we deeply appreciate our reliable partners – the leading international financial institutions that despite the difficult situation in the Ukrainian economy, have invested and continue to invest in our company’s projects. NIBULON´s high achievements would have been impossible without this enormous long-term support!