Allan Saunderson is managing editor of Property Finance Europe and a contributor to GlobeSt.com.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA-The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to invest up to $100 million in the first infrastructure fund set up to target projects in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

The EBRD's announcement at Russia's chief economic event of the year, the St. Petersburg Forum, followed a decision of Russia's fully state owned Vnesheconombank to invest $200 million in the Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund. The International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, also committed $100 million, while Kazyna Capital Management, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's sustainable development fund, put in $30 million.

The Macquarie fund was set up in 2008 by Australia's Macquarie Group, and Russia's Renaissance. The fund is targeting total investor commitments of $1 billion to $1.5 billion. "The fund will (in the current crisis) have a crucial role to play in modernising vital infrastructure in the three largest economies of the former Soviet Union," EBRD President Thomas Mirow said.