The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 500 million – the first tranche of an approved loan amount of EUR 1 billion – to Hungary to co-finance priority projects receiving support from EU Cohesion Funds, European Regional Development Funds and Connecting Europe Facility within the programming period 2014–2020. The EIB loan, in line with the Partnership Agreement and the Europe 2020 Strategy, will cover the national co-financing contribution for projects in the areas of transport, energy and the environment.
Mr László Baranyay, EIB Vice-President stated: “The EIB’s loan will co-finance priority projects with a total value of some EUR 9 billion. It will help to implement investments that are important for accelerating the EU convergence process and allowing Hungary to meet national strategic objectives in the areas of growth and employment, climate change and energy independence, all of which are key to achieving an increase in Hungary’s economic competitiveness and improving the quality of life of its citizens.”
Mr. Mihály Varga, Minister for National Economy said: “We highly appreciate that the EIB has provided its expertise in Hungary in order to channel the available funds successfully towards the aim of economic development and helped the technical implementation of the projects in the 2007-2013 programming period. We have signed today the first part of the “Cohesion Fund IV.” framework loan in an amount of 500 million euro for the co-financing of the Integrated Transport OP, the Environment and Energy Efficiency OP and the Connecting Europe Facility. Under these Programmes the Hungarian State would like to implement priority projects in the field of transport, environment and energy, which are expected to foster development in Hungary and the further integration within the EU.”
The EIB funds will support investments in water, including flood prevention, waste, energy efficiency, renewal and distribution as well as transport projects, completing the road and railway TEN-T and improving roads in less developed areas and railways throughout Hungary. In addition, the EIB loan will co-finance projects related to the preservation of natural and cultural heritage.
The EIB financing is being granted in the form of a Structural Programme Loan. In addition to large-scale infrastructure projects, the EIB loan may also be used to finance smaller schemes, which, due to their limited size, would otherwise not qualify for direct EIB financing.
The EIB technical assistance initiative JASPERS (Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions – jointly provided by the EIB, European Commission and EBRD) has contributed to the preparation of some of the long-term development strategies underlying the selection of projects to be implemented with funds from this loan, thus verifying and ensuring the consistent quality of the projects to be implemented.
Photographer: EIB ©To be defined
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