EBRD and EIB Launch €410 Million Ukraine FIRST Fund to Catalyse Urban, Energy, and Tourism Recovery

EBRD and EIB Launch €410 Million Ukraine FIRST Fund to Catalyse Urban, Energy, and Tourism Recovery

(IN BRIEF) At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome (10–11 July 2025), the EBRD will present a comprehensive €410 million financing package for urban development and sustainable tourism via the Ukraine FIRST Cooperation Fund, co-managed with the EIB. Funds flow through Arcano Partners (“Spanish Urban Development SICC,” €210 million) and Buenavista Infrastructure (“Buenavista NextGen Urban SICC,” €200 million), offering debt, equity, or hybrid financing up to €22 million per project through December 2030. The Bank continues its wartime support—€7.2 billion deployed, including €2.4 billion in energy projects—and will sign new distributed-generation and renewables deals to strengthen power security. Municipal and financial sectors receive backing through city-level loans and a €900 million risk-sharing facility for partner banks, fostering sub-loans in critical industries. The EBRD will also advance capital-market development with a stock-exchange MoU, invest in a tech fund alongside the IFC, and promote human-capital initiatives via a new Resilience Charter. Attention to strategic minerals will continue with support for graphite development and the digitalisation of geological data.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 7-Jul-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) arrives at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome this week with a robust suite of initiatives to underpin Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts. Amid the ongoing conflict—which has pushed reconstruction costs to an estimated US$524 billion (€446 billion)—the EBRD reaffirms its commitment, having already deployed €7.2 billion across the country during wartime.

At the URC (10–11 July), the EBRD will unveil its role co-managing the Ukraine FIRST Cooperation Fund, a project-preparation facility established alongside the European Investment Bank. This new mechanism, financed by the Regional Resilience Fund under Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (NextGenerationEU), will channel €410 million via two regulated intermediaries: Arcano Partners (€210 million through “Spanish Urban Development SICC”) and Buenavista Infrastructure (€200 million via “Buenavista NextGen Urban SICC”). Each intermediary will deploy debt, equity, or hybrid financing—capped at €22 million per project—with 15-year equity and 20-year debt tenors. Eligible projects range from affordable housing, education, healthcare, and cultural venues to sustainable mobility, water and waste management, energy efficiency upgrades, and eco-tourism developments. The investment window extends through December 2030.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso commented, “While we had hoped for a post-conflict reconstruction conference, we arrive in Rome with substantial progress on resilience-building investments. Every project—from energy infrastructure to human capital development—paves the way for a more efficient and cost-effective rebuild.”

Energy security remains a priority: nearly one-third of the EBRD’s wartime financing (€2.4 billion) has supported Ukraine’s power sector, including transmission, gas, hydropower, distributed generation, and renewables. In Rome, the Bank will sign new agreements for distributed and renewable energy projects, alongside EU partners, to mitigate investment risk and attract private capital.

Municipal authorities will also benefit through loans, pre-finance, grants, and guarantees for city-level infrastructure, while partner banks will share EBRD-backed risk to extend up to €900 million in sub-loans to enterprises in agribusiness, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, transport, logistics, and to homeowners pursuing energy security improvements. This risk-sharing facility is the largest of its kind in Ukraine, broadening access to finance for private-sector recovery.

To bolster capital markets, the EBRD will sign a memorandum with the National Bank of Ukraine, the Finance Ministry, and the Stock Market Commission to create an integrated stock exchange and post-trade clearing framework. The Bank also plans an equity investment—alongside the IFC—in an early-stage tech fund, part of a €100 million pipeline targeting €600 million in combined infrastructure, private equity, and venture capital funds.

Human capital development will be showcased through a new Human Capital Resilience Charter, launched jointly with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. Nearly 90 percent of EBRD projects now include workforce training, veteran support, and trauma-management components.

Finally, the EBRD will highlight its interest in Ukraine’s graphite resources—a strategic metal for batteries and defence—by supporting a natural graphite deposit project and launching phase two of its digitalisation of Ukraine’s geological archives, making critical raw-materials data readily accessible.

Media Contact:

Vanora Bennett
Email: media@ebrd.com

SOURCE: EBRD