EBRD makes first investment in Russia's ports

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to lend $5.4 million to the fund for the construction a maritime-navigation safety system designed to reduce the risk of collision in the Russian sector of the Baltic Sea, the bank reported in an official statement on Thursday. A massive surge in tanker traffic is being projected, the statement said.

The loan will be the EBRD's first investment in the Russian port sector, the director of the EBRD's Transport Team Ricardo Puliti said. The five-year loan will allow for the completion of the second phase of a regional-navigation safety system in the Gulf of Finland. The total cost of the second phase is estimated at $9.3 million, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

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