Italy: InvestEU programme on track - Four new projects signed by the EIB Group

• The EIB Group and the European Commission are launching the InvestEU programme today in Rome. It aims to unlock over €372 billion of investment in the European Union.
• The first four InvestEU operations in Italy have also been signed, totalling €264 million:
  • €45 million from the EIB to Acque Bresciane to enhance the coverage, quality and resilience of wastewater services in the province of Brescia.
  • €30 million invested by the EIF in Xenon FIDEC to promote the circular economy.
  • €100 million EIF guarantee for Intesa Sanpaolo to support the investments and liquidity needs of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid-caps or to help with their digital and environmental transition.
  • €84 million EIF guarantee for Mediocredito Trentino-Alto Adige S.p.A to support the investments and liquidity needs of SMEs and small mid-caps in the north-east of Italy.

The European Commission and the EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), organised an event in Rome today to launch the InvestEU programme in Italy and sign its first four Italian operations. With an EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion, the programme aims to unlock investments of over €372 billion across Europe to support the European Union’s strategic priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition.

The event was opened with greetings from EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti, Italian Minister of the Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti CEO Dario Scannapieco and Chairperson of the InvestEU Investment Committee Fabio Pammolli, and was attended by more than 100 clients and stakeholders. 

“InvestEU, the new EU programme to support investment in the European Union, is a key mechanism for financing high-risk, high-impact projects helping to make the European economy greener and more digital. Today's event gave us the opportunity not only to present the EIB Group's financial and advisory products to our clients, but also to sign the first four operations in Italy benefiting from an InvestEU guarantee. Supporting the water sector, promoting the circular economy and investing in small and medium-sized enterprises in key sectors such as sustainability, innovation and culture are all strategic priorities of the InvestEU programme to kick-start the European economy, which was hit hard first by the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy, said: “InvestEU offers great opportunities to Italian businesses and I am delighted to be present in Rome today for its launch event. We have before us a mountain of investments to deliver and through InvestEU, we can ensure that financing is channelled to where it is most needed to boost innovation, jobs and growth. The first four InvestEU agreements being signed today with Italian partners are excellent examples of this and I want to congratulate all the entities involved on making this happen. I look forward to seeing many more such agreements in the months and years ahead.”

EIF Chief Investment Officer Alessandro Tappi said: “InvestEU will bring a new wave of financing to boost innovation, the transition to a more sustainable economy and job creation in Italy and across Europe. The initiative is fully aligned with the EIF's objectives.  It is a tool designed to support SMEs in their digital and environmentally sustainable transformation, promote energy efficiency and ensure that Europe stays competitive in attracting new businesses and investments.”

The first four Italian operations under InvestEU were also signed during the event.

Water sector: €45 million from the EIB for Acque Bresciane

Improving the coverage, quality and resilience of wastewater services in the Lombardy region is the main goal of the €45 million loan — the first €40 million of which was signed today — granted by the EIB to Acque Bresciane (AB) with the support of the InvestEU programme. Acque Bresciane is the public company providing integrated water services to 97 municipalities home to 580 000 people in the service area (Ambito Territoriale Ottimale) of Brescia, Lombardy.

The EU bank and European Commission support provided via InvestEU will enable Acque Bresciane to strengthen existing water infrastructure to improve the coverage, quality and resilience of wastewater services in the province of Brescia. The planned investments will contribute to increasing the operational and energy efficiency of Acque Bresciane and will generate substantial social benefits, helping to combat climate change and thus improving public health in the region, as well as creating job opportunities.

Efficiency gains will lead to estimated total energy savings of 4 402 MWh compared to the benchmark scenario, which is equivalent to the annual energy use of around 1 600 Italian households.

The EIB is the EU climate bank and one of the world's largest lenders to the water sector, with over 1 600 projects and around €80 billion in funding. This loan for Acque Bresciane comes in addition to others recently signed with Iniziative Bresciane (IBRE), BrianzAcque (BA), CAP Group, Tea Spa, ALFA, Veritas and SMAT. Given the huge investment needs of the Italian water sector, in the last five years the EIB has financed over 30 operations worth €2.3 billion, helping to unlock investment of almost €7.6 billion across the country.  

The circular economy and decarbonisation: €30 million invested by the EIF in Xenon FIDEC

The EIF is investing €30 million under InvestEU in Xenon FIDEC (Italian fund for decarbonisation and the circular economy), a first-generation private equity fund. The goal of this operation is to stimulate investment in decarbonisation and the circular economy in Italy, extending the useful life of products and materials (raw materials and semi-finished products) and using renewable energy and recycled materials, thereby restoring natural capital and promoting biodiversity.

With a target of €120 million, the Xenon FIDEC fund will support eight to ten SMEs and mid-caps active in industrial sectors that are key to the environmental transition, such as materials recycling, renewable energy generation (hydrogen, biofuels and bio-methane solutions) and the development of green infrastructure. The fund will be managed by a dedicated team of experts with in-depth experience of the energy sector. These projects will also help to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal in Italy.

€100 million EIF guarantee for Intesa Sanpaolo to support the investments and liquidity needs of innovative SMEs and small mid-caps or to help with their digital and environmental transition

Intesa Sanpaolo and the EIF are signing an agreement under InvestEU for two €50 million portfolio guarantees, the first for innovation and digitalisation, and the second for sustainability and the green economic transition. Intesa Sanpaolo and the EIF estimate that these instruments will make it possible to mobilise investments in the real economy totalling €250 million for new growth projects in Italian industry, focused on sustainability objectives.

This initiative confirms Intesa Sanpaolo Group's key position in the economic system, working with all national and international players to find the best solutions to support companies on the path to sustainable growth.

EIF guarantee: €84 million for Mediocredito Trentino-Alto Adige S.p.A to support the investments and liquidity needs of SMEs and small mid-caps in the north-east of Italy

The EIF is providing an €84 million portfolio guarantee to Mediocredito Trentino-Alto Adige S.p.A to support the investments and liquidity needs of SMEs and small mid-caps in the north-east of Italy. This EIF guarantee via InvestEU will help to support investments worth an estimated €170 million in the real economy.  At least €90 million of this will go towards supporting the investments of companies in the field of innovation, at least €70 million to promoting environmental sustainability and the remaining €10 million to stimulating investment in cultural and creative activities. 

InvestEU

The InvestEU Programme provides the European Union with long-term loans to unlock large-scale public and private sector funding to support a sustainable recovery. It helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union's strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and SME support. The InvestEU programme brings together several EU financing instruments to support investments, making financial support simpler, more efficient and more flexible. It has three components: the InvestEU fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The EIB Group (EIB and EIF) is implementing 75% of the InvestEU fund, while the remaining 25% will be implemented by international financial institutions and national promotional institutions such as Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) in Italy.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances projects in four priority areas: infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Between 2019 and 2021, the EIB Group provided more than €36 billion in financing for projects in Italy.