The World Bank (WB) on Thursday signed a loan agreement worth 560 million U.S. dollars with the Ukrainian government to finance a project on the development of Ukraine's road network.

    According to a statement posted on the Ukraine Infrastructure Ministry's website, a lion share of the credit will be used to finance repair works on a highway connecting Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv and the city of Poltava in the central part of the country.

    The road overhaul, which is set to be completed within five years, will reduce travel time between the cities by third and halve the number of the traffic accidents on the highway, the statement said.

    Besides, the credit funding will be used to improve road conditions on approximately 840 kilometers of highways across the country, it said.

    According to Ukrainian traffic authorities, the East European country has about 170,000 km of roads, with half of them are in need of major renewal.

    Poor road conditions is one of the main reasons behind the frequent traffic accidents in Ukraine, which are estimated to cost the country between 3 percent and 4 percent of its gross domestic product annually.