ISTANBUL, July 26 (Reuters) - The European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development's exposure to war-ravaged Ukraine

does not pose a threat to its prized triple-A credit rating

despite previous warnings from the likes of Fitch, its vice

president told Reuters on Friday.

WHAT DID EBRD SAY?

Matteo Patrone, the EBRD's Vice President for Banking said

the bank was "absolutely not" concerned that Ukraine exposure

could threaten the bank's rating.

He said that last year's increase of the bank's capital was

"exactly to allow us to increase our exposure in Ukraine and

continue supporting the real economy to the tune of 1.5 billion

euros per year".

The EBRD plans to scale that up to 2.5 billion and 3 billion

euros per year going forward as well.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Ratings agency Fitch warned last year that if Ukraine wasn't

able to pay back its international development loans, it would

likely cost top multilateral lenders including the EBRD and the

World Bank's International European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development their triple-A credit scores.

WHY IT MATTERS?

The loss of the top rating would make it more expensive for

the EBRD itself to borrow money, undermining its whole business

model.

The EBRD is one of the top lenders to Ukraine's private

sector, and its continued support to the country is key to

helping it withstand, and recover from, Russian attacks.

THE NUMBERS

Multilateral lending to Ukraine has jumped since Russia's

2022 invasion, exceeding a combined 25 billion euros at the end

of 2022. Fitch's warning last year put the EBRD's net exposure

to Ukraine at a hefty 12.8% ratio of its shareholder equity.

In December, however, the EBRD's board approved a 4 billion

euro capital increase, bringing its capital base up to to 34

billion euros.