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Weekly Lists
December 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
bne:
Infrastructure
European Investment Bank to lend Ukrainian government €50mn for transport infrastructure
Kazakhstan launches trial run of public- private partnership to digitise transport
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend the Ukrainian gov- ernment €50mn to finance transport infrastructure improvements throughout the country and provide a grant of €10mn to finance the implementation of the Ukraine Higher Education Project, the bank said in a press release on December 18, as cited by Interfax Ukraine.
"The projects signed today will result in faster and safer transport infrastructure, better academic facilities and more resources for higher education programmes, all of, which will strengthen the country’s competitiveness," the press service of the bank reported on Monday, citing EIB vice-president Vazil Hudák.
A trial run of E-freight, Kazakhstan’s public-private partnership (PPP) for digitising transport, was launched last week in the Kazakh capital Astana, the Astana Times has reported.
The project valued at around $8.9mn will improve paperwork efficiency for air cargo transportation in order to attract more air transit to the country. The project will in part support Kazakhstan’s transit hub aspirations spearheaded by China’s infrastructure investments within the framework of the huge One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. E-freight is being funded exclusively by private investments with no state budget support.
“The new service will increase the attractiveness of the airspace of Kazakhstan for transit cargo traffic, increase the competitiveness
of Kazakhstan’s air carriers and reduce the time and cost of cargo clearance,” said TransInfoTech chairperson Sanzhar Rakhmetzhanov.
Macedonia has received a €68.6mn grant from the European Union and Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) to co-finance a railway infrastructure project, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on December 14.
The WBIF is a joint initiative of the European Commission, international financial institutions such as the EBRD, bilateral donors and governments of the Western Balkans countries.
The development of the Macedonian economy depends on connec- tions to major international land transport routes along which freight can travel easily. The grant will be used to co-finance the second phase of the railway Corridor VIII project. The country also lies on the route of the 215 km rail Corridor X.
Macedonia obtains €68.6mn grant from EU and WBIF for railway infrastructure project