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The original €63 million loan was agreed in November 2020. Its aim was to finance the modernisation of the company’s logistics infrastructure and operating fleet. However, Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine, which has made access to customers both harder and more urgent, has changed priorities.
Last December, the EBRD approved a €4.5 million co-investment grant, funded from its Shareholder Special Fund (SSF), to support the acquisition of satellite internet terminals and power generators for mobile post office vans - aiming to help keep people who are facing power cuts as a result of Russian bombing of civilian infrastructure in digital contact, even in remote rural areas.
The Bank is now making it possible to use €22.7 million for the acquisition of more than 5000 e-bikes and around 350 commercial trucks.
In March 2023, Ukrposhta launched a pilot program "Postmen on electric bicycles". As part of the project, the postal operator will provide postal workers with electric bicycles to serve customers in hard-to-reach areas. At that time, the first 20 e-bikes were purchased from the Ukrainian startup BikeBox, known under the Bayka brand.
According to the tender announcement, Ukrposhta purchased 10 three-wheeled electric bicycles with cases, five two-wheeled bicycles with cases and five two-wheeled bicycles with cases.
Ukrposhta CEO Igor Smelyansky said at the time:
"We will try various formats and models (2-wheeled and 3-wheeled) to make sure we can deliver quickly, conveniently and with GPS tracking. And since we plan to equip all carriers with portable computers and POS terminals, we haven't forgotten about USB charging either."
Sources: EBRD, Igor Smelyansky
