The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will issue a loan of up to $25 million to Novus Ukraine for seven years to support the expansion of the Novus supermarket chain, the EBRD press service has reported.

"The loan will be used to finance the expansion of the Novus network, which intends to open a new logistics center and ten new stores in Kyiv and Kyiv region by the end of 2018," the bank said.

In addition, according to the press service of the bank, Novus will receive a $500,000 grant from the FINTECC (the Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change) to support energy saving technologies.

"In particular, LED lighting, advanced control systems, air and water heat recovery systems, cooling systems and many other improvements will be installed in all Novus stores," the EBRD said in a press release.

The project is a component of the EBRD strategy that facilitates investment in the development of storage, transportation and distribution infrastructure, as well as modernization of food and agricultural processing in Ukraine, the report said.

Today the EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. According to the information of the bank, the financial institution undertook to provide almost EUR11.7 billion for 384 projects that have been implemented since the beginning of the bank's activities in Ukraine in 1993.