A tender to buy natural gas by national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy in Europe on the western border of Ukraine using the three-year revolving loan of $300 million issued by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has aroused the large interest of potential sellers, Deputy Finance Minister Artem Shevalev has said.

"All key European traders are participating in the tender process under the EBRD rules, where the re-qualification was started last week," he wrote on his Facebook page from London where he took part in a meeting of the Board of Directors of the bank on the approval of the loan facility.

Shevalev said that a very ambitious action plan for corporate governance at Naftogaz which is being implemented jointly with the World Bank and the EU is linked to this financing.

The Finance Ministry said that the loan agreement would be signed next week.

As reported, the re-qualification for the tender to buy gas in the period from October 2015 to January 20, 2016 was announced on September 18 and will last until October 2.