MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - The board of governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved on Tuesday a loan of up to 240 million euros ($347 mln) to LUKoil, Russia's largest independent crude producer.

The company will use the credit to finance a project for its subsidiary, the TGC-8 power generator, to modernize a thermal power plant in Krasnodar, southern Russia. The project is expected to cost a total of 333 million euros ($482 mln).

LUKoil consolidated the controlling stake in TGC-8 and became its strategic investor last year as part of the restructuring of Russia's electric power system.

Although the oil producer posted a 50% year-on-year drop in U.S. GAAP net profit to $2.3 billion in late August, it has performed relatively well amid the ongoing economic slump.