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EBRD has a revolving credit line to Naftogaz

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Allows Naftogaz to buy gas up front, repay when clients

pay

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EBRD is trying to mobilise grant money, Renaud-Basso says

LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development is looking to step up its support

for Ukraine's state oil and gas company Naftogaz following

Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure this

month, the bank's president told Reuters.

Large and coordinated Russian air attacks on Ukraine's

energy infrastructure earlier in October forced the country to

suspend activities at several major gas facilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country may

need record gas imports worth around $2 billion from Europe, the

United States and Azerbaijan this winter as a result.

REVOLVING CREDIT LINE TO NAFTOGAZ

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso told Reuters on Monday

that the attacks had created a new challenge for access to

heating for the winter.

"So we are looking about how we can step up," she said.

The EBRD has a revolving credit line to Naftogaz that allows

the company to buy gas up front and repay the bank once clients

pay them. Since the beginning of the war, the EBRD has provided

1.67 billion euros ($1.95 billion) to Naftogaz in total,

including 1.27 billion in financing as well as investment grants

from donors.

"It has proven very effective to have access to gas and we

are going to step up on that. We are working on it right now,"

Renaud-Basso said.

She said that while the total amount of that support was not

yet clear, the bank was trying to mobilize grant money as well.

"We have been calling our shareholders on that to also

provide some grants because the borrowing capacities of the

company is not unlimited," Renaud-Basso said.

The EBRD has become one of the most important funders of

Ukraine's private sector since Russia's invasion in early 2022,

and so far this year has extended funding of close to 2.3

billion euros.

She added that in addition to power supply problems, human

capital also remained a significant constraint for companies

operating in Ukraine due to wartime displacements and the

large-scale military mobilization.

Despite this, the economy was holding up, she said, with

companies from agribusiness to logistics continuing to invest,

despite the conflict.

"You see that in the economic figures - for a country in

war, they're quite impressive," she said.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Libby George, Karin Strohecker and Simon Jessop;

Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)