KIEV, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine welcomed the World Bank's (WB)decision to lend the country 500 million U.S. dollars to purchase natural gas, said Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk late Tuesday.
"This (the loan) will allow us to run smoothly through the heating season," Danyliuk wrote on Facebook.
According to the WB, the loan, provided to the country's national energy company Naftogaz, is designed to help Ukraine secure gas supplies for heating companies, households, power producers and industrial consumers over the coming two years.
The credit is part of a bigger program launched by the WB to support the war-torn country's energy reforms.
Since May 2014, the WB has provided the eastern European country with some 4.4 billion dollars through loans and investment funds.
