European Investment Bank celebrates 25 years in Romania with 13 billion Euro for economic and financial support

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved more than 13 billion Euro worth of financing and advisory services for Romania since it started its operations in the country 25 years ago.

2017-10-20 11:24:18

EIB Vice-President Andrew McDowell and Romania's Prime Minister Mihai Tudose commemorated the 25th anniversary of the approval of the first ever EIB operation in Romania and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the EIB Group Office in Bucharest, and discussed future cooperation between the EIB Group and Romania.

The EIB Group has played an important role in the modernisation of the Romanian economy since 1992. Development of trans-European and national networks and devotion to climate action have been a predominant feature of the EU bank's operations in the country. The first operations during the mid-1990s were targeted at modernising the national roads network, completing unfinished works on the Bucharest metro, regenerating the system of ageing and polluting power production plants, renewing TAROM's fleet and reducing losses in the municipal district heating systems.

All major sectors of the country's economy have been supported, ranging from transport, communications, energy, health, education and rural development to environmental infrastructure and a lot of attention has been devoted to support for small and medium-sized companies via local financial institutions and to projects helping to develop an information society and a knowledge economy but also create much needed new employment opportunities.

The biggest share of EIB Group lending in Romania (42 per cent, or 5.4 billion Euro) has gone to the transport sector. It targeted the rehabilitation and modernisation of railway, road and motorway networks as well as sustainable urban transport (the Bucharest metro).

The second biggest share went to long-term financing for SMEs and midcaps (21 per cent or two billion Euro), followed by energy projects (8 per cent or one billion Euro). These include the construction of the Fantanele Wind Farm (200 million Euro) and a gas power plant close to Ploiesti (200 million Euro). The EIB also approved 480 million Euro for the improvement of energy efficiency in residential buildings in Bucharest. Finally, 143 million Euro went to the rehabilitation of elementary and pre-university schools across the country.

Romania is the biggest recipient of EIB Group financing in the south-east of the EU, followed by Croatia and Bulgaria, with some 5 billion Euro each.