EBRD allocates EUR 52.5 mln to Odesa company for retail expansion

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated EUR 52.5 million for the expansion of retail trade in Odesa, including the Riviera shopping center, the EBRD's press service has told Ukrinform.
According to the report, the EUR 52.5 million financing package organized by the bank for Novi Biznes Pohliady Ltd, a special project company that owns and manages Riviera, will help expand the existing total lease space by 18,131 square meters by the end of 2022.

Hundreds of young women and men will be able to undergo specialized training in IT, foreign languages, sales, marketing and other disciplines as part of this investment program, the report said.

This investment will increase the availability of modern retail space in Odesa, which now lags behind most Eastern European cities with a current lease rate of only about 250 square meters per 1,000 inhabitants, the EBRD said.

The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of more than EUR 14.5 billion through 460 projects in Ukraine.