Brussels, 27/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 May, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it had provided a €450 million loan to Ukravtodor, the state roads administration of Ukraine, for rehabilitation and quality improvement of around 350 km of five sections of highways branching out from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in the centre of the country. Most of the roads are on crucial European and national transport corridors largely on the extended Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The project should, the EIB states, help to improve conditions of use and, to a lesser degree, conditions of safety on routes that are among the most heavily used by Ukrainian road traffic. The total cost amounts to €1,010 billion and will also be cofinanced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This loan of €450 million is the second provided by the EIB in favour of upgrading the Ukrainian road network. A first loan of €200 million financed the upgrade of the M-06 road linking Kiev with EU member states Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. (O.L./transl.jl)