The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2017 issued loans for a record high amount of EUR9.7 billion, the bank said in a statement.

The figure has been growing for four consecutive years, while in 2016 it was EUR 9.4 billion.

The number of projects that received funding from the EBRD increased to 412 against 378 a year earlier.

The largest recipient of loans was again Turkey, despite the fact that the figure decreased compared to 2016 to EUR 1.54 billion from EUR 1.92 billion. Egypt ranks second: investment in the country almost doubled, to EUR 1.41 billion. Ukraine ranks third with EUR 581 million in 2017.

It is noted that the volume of loans granted to projects in the field of "green" energy in the past year increased to EUR4.1 billion from EUR2.8 billion a year earlier. Thus, the share of such projects in the bank's new loans was 43%, although the EBRD management previously expected to reach a figure above 40% by 2020.

Among the major projects is the construction of a solar power plant in the Egyptian city of Benban. It is expected that this power plant will reach a capacity of 1.8 gigawatts and will become the largest such project in the world.

In 2017, the EBRD for the first time started issuing loans to Lebanon, and also opened offices in Alexandria, Tangier, and Odesa.