The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided EUR 865 million of loans, guarantees, equity and microfinance operations in Romania in 2019, the group announced on February 13.

Support to public and private sectors in the areas of industry, energy, education and services, facilitating investments of smaller companies, represented in total some 0.4% of Romania’s GDP in 2019.

Among the projects financed in 2019, there was a EUR 25 mln loan to Polytechnic University of Bucharest (UPB) to increase the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of teaching, learning and research.

EIB also extended in 2019 a EUR 27.5 mln loan to support the expansion, upgrade and modernisation of Maspex Group's food and drinks production and storage facilities in Giurgiu, Valenii de Munte and Vatra Dornei. Another EUR 100 mln loan was extended to Transgaz for financing the construction of an on-shore gas transmission pipeline that will link Romania’s natural gas resources in the Black Sea with both the national gas transmission network and the BRUA gas transmission corridor.

“Thanks to innovative financing under the EFSI guarantee, which is a core part of the Investment Plan for Europe, we financed projects targeting the development of education, water and energy infrastructure as well as investments improving food production and management. In 2019, 10,200 businesses benefited from EIB operations, sustaining some 107,000 jobs,” said EIB vice-president Andrew McDowell at a conference in Bucharest.

On the same occasion, he also signed three new financing agreements, worth EUR 61 mln in total, with the local authorities in Bucharest’s Districts 4 and 6 and local lender ProCredit Bank.

editor@romania-insider.com

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