The European Investment Bank (EIB) lends EUR 300 million for repairs of the Romanian road infrastructure damaged by the catastrophic floods.
The loan will finance road repair works as well as rehabilitation of damaged bridges, consolidation of road embankment, reconstruction of riverbanks protections as well as preventive measures that will reduce the risk of the reoccurrence of flood damages in the future. The loan involves emergency funds of EUR 75 million, which could be allocated to local authorities for priority needs caused by the disastrous floods of 2005.
The current loan is complementary to the EIB loan of EUR 240 million, which was granted in 2000 for flood damages. Another loan of up to EUR 350 million for flood prevention measures is scheduled for signature later this year.
Mr. Wolfgang Roth, EIB Vice-President, stated: I appreciate very much that the EIB lending effectively supports Romania in the effort to reconstruct damages caused by the recent devastating floods as well as to take measures needed to reduce flood damages in the future.
The EIB, the European Union's financing institution, finances sound investments that foster balanced regional development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States as well as of Acceding Counties (Romania and Bulgaria). Since 1990 up to now in Romania the EIB has lent a total of EUR 4.25 billion and the lending in 2005 resulted in EUR 950 million. Totally, the Bank has granted more than EUR 32 billion in central and eastern Europe which makes it the most important external source of bank finance for this region.
In recent years the European Investment Bank has provided credit support to the countries or regions severely hit by disasters, such as Romania and Turkey in 2000, Poland and Hungary in 2001, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria in 2002.