- EUR 20 million framework loan to Municipality of Tartu in support of its development plan and strategy for the years 2018-2025.
- First EIB loan for an Estonian municipality outside Tallinn will allow Tartu to renovate primary and secondary school infrastructure.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 20 million framework loan with the Municipality of Tartu, famous for its University. The loan comes in support of the City’s development plan and strategy leading up to 2025.
Through this financing, the EIB expresses its support for small to medium-sized education investments, and small-size municipal infrastructure schemes in Tartu. Under the scheme, the municipality will use the fund for renovations of primary schools and, at a later stage, high schools as well. In-line with the climate priorities that the European Investment Bank has adopted, the investments are also expected to support local ‘smart city’ and energy efficiency targets.
The EIB’s Vice President Alexander Stubb commented: “Providing adequate facilities for students has significant effects on their educational success. Tartu’s fame in education is renowned and I’m proud that the EIB can become a positive part in this long history. The bank’s mission is to improve people’s lives through its financing; this project ticks all the boxes.”
According to Urmas Klaas, Mayor of Tartu, the European Investment Bank's funding will help to advance the city’s school renovation program. “In the next ten years, we are planning to reconstruct all of the city's primary schools and then start a new round of renovations in high schools. In addition, we also contribute to improving the learning environment of the Tartu Vocational Education Centre. The goal is to transform existing classrooms into modern and flexible learning environments, able to support innovative teaching methods,” said the mayor.
Specifically, the investments aim to improve Tartu’s obsolete education building stock, as well as to transform traditional classrooms into modern and flexible learning environments, able to support innovative teaching methods. Thus, the project will include refurbishment and extension of buildings - covering different education levels from pre-primary and primary education to lower and upper secondary education, including also one vocational training facility - and sport halls located related to the school sites.
With a population of nearly 94,000, the Municipality of Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia, after the country’s capital Tallinn. Tartu is home to the nation's oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu, and houses the Supreme Court of Estonia and the Ministry of Education and Research.