- The EIB Group invested €1.85 billion in 2022 to boost regional development, support small businesses and mid-caps, help the country deal with the conflict in Ukraine, and provide a reliable and efficient energy supply
- The EIB dedicated almost €1 bn to energy independence via a record loan enabling ČEZ to connect around 2.2 GW of new renewable energy sources, provided support to CEPS and INVEN, a venture capital investment fund focused on clean tech
- The Bank has invested €26 billion over three decades of activity in the Czech Republic supporting the public, private and banking sectors
The European Investment Bank Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Investment Fund (EIF), invested €1.85 billion in the Czech Republic in 2022 facilitating regional development, accelerating sustainable development and innovation of small businesses and mid-caps, and ensuring the stability and efficiency of energy supply and climate action. The EIB lent €1.78 billion through 12 operations in the public, private and banking sectors, while the EIF provided an additional €70 million, via four equity, guarantee and inclusive finance operations.
To help the European Union and partner countries’ cope with the economic consequences of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the EIB Group deployed €1.7 billion since the beginning of war and provided some €3.6 million in humanitarian aid donations outside of the EU.
The Bank partnered with the Czech Government to provide €200 million to host Ukrainian refugees, mainly to finance expenses related to the Czech Republic’s national health sector. To accelerate the preparation of projects to support Ukraine’s recovery, the Czech Republic became the ninth donor under the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF) by contributing €10 million to the fund.
A record €19.4 billion of the EIB Group’s financing in 2022 globally supported clean energy. With the Group’s support package for the REPowerEU initiative, the Bank is going higher, investing over €17 billion last year into projects that all contribute to REPowerEU’s objective of ending Europe’s dependency on Russia.
At a time of extreme energy insecurity, the EIB signed several significant operations in the Czech corporate sector including a record loan of €790 million within an investment programme over the period 2023-2024 with the Czech national utility company ČEZ. The deal aimed to upgrade and expand the country’s electricity distribution grid and promote the Czech Republic’s energy independence by enabling ČEZ to connect around 2.2 GW of new renewable energy sources.
EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, in charge of operations in the Czech Republic, said: ”We are proud to be an integral part of the Czech success story and its transformation into a modern and globally competitive economy over the last 30 years. In 2022, we signed 12 operations, including a record deal in the energy sector, which is one of our flagship investments, helping the European Union to escape the shackles of fossil-fuel dependency, meet its climate goals and contribute to the decarbonisation of the global economy. Moving ahead we will focus strongly on supporting the Czech economy ensuring just transition, decarbonisation of industry, deployment of renewables, energy efficient solutions and green transport. We are committed to helping boost Czech companies, households and infrastructure, by delivering on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in November with the Ministers of Transport and Finance on modernisation of the Czech railway sector. I would like to thank our partners, especially the government, for the opportunity to contribute to a strong Czech economy.”
Deputy Finance Minister of the Czech Republic Jiří Valenta said: „I appreciate the activities of the European Investment Bank in the Czech economy and I believe the Bank will stay our strong and reliable financial partner for more than another 30 years. Since 1992, the EIB has invested a total of €27.6 billion in the Czech Republic. In the context of the current geopolitical risks, we must continue to reduce our dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports and our priority remains investment in the development of nuclear energy and renewable energy, while respecting the climate targets. Equally important for us will be increased investment in the defence of our country."
Continuous support for businesses, climate action, efficient and reliable energy supply
Since the beginning of operations in the Czech Republic in 1992 the EIB has unlocked almost €27 billion supporting all key sectors of the Czech economy, whith €1.69 billion coming from the EIF, which makes a total of €27.57 billion euros as a Group (around CZK 661 billion).
Last year, the EIB invested in three operations within the public sector, six with banks and three with Czech corporates. Alongside to the record deal to ČEZ, we directed €91.6 million of our investments to CEPS, to reinforce the Czech electricity transmission network over the period 2023-2025.
The EU bank provided €36.7 million to Ceske Drahy to modernise its rolling stock providing services mainly in a lesser developed regions of the country, thus, facilitating regional development.
In the field of innovation, €9.9 million was provided to Codasip, a Brno based company that sells electronic design automation software and €5.5 million went to Advanced Electronics RDI to support the company’s investments in power and comfort electronics, drive and comfort controls for automotive applications.
€50 million went steered to Inven Capital, a Czech venture capital fund, expanding a mutual strategic partnership that started six years ago.
The EIB also provided substantial support to the Czech banking sector helping small businesses and mid-caps with more accessible loans, including a €646 million in partnership with Česká spořitelna, CSOB, SGEF and UniCredit Leasing.
EIF invests in digital technologies and innovation-based competitiveness in the Czech Republic economy
EIF operations in 2022 totalled €67.2 million in equity, inclusive finance and guarantees for small businesses and mid-cap loans in three operations with financial institutions, namely with Česká spořitelna and Komercni Banka. It is expected that the leveraged financing will amount to €127 million.
A new programme with the Ministry of Industry and Trade funded by an allocation of €55 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility negotiated last year will target digital technologies through commitments to a pre-seed co-investment fund, a fintech/blockchain fund and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) university technology transfert (TT) fund. The programme is currently being launched.
EIB Advisory Services to improve the country’s energy efficiency and attract additional EU funds
In 2022, the EIB Advisory Services continued to provide valuable advisory and capacity building support to the government in the Czech Republic and the country’s public and private sector. Last year, the EIB’s Advisory Services took on 15 new assignments and completed two, with 34 active assignments in the country. The EIB Advisory Services support promoters in the Czech Republic, developing and implementing projects in areas such as climate and environment, energy efficiency, infrastructure, and sustainable urban development.
Most ongoing assignments under the Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS) in the Czech Republic are designed to support the development of a project pipeline, principally in the rail and road sectors, including a strategy for implementation of TEN-T technical standards and concepts for the Czech high speed rail network and Prague’s rail hub development. The experts also advise on development of cycling infrastructure in the city of Brno, as part of that city’s Urban Development Plan.
European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) works on three energy efficiency improvement projects of publicly and privately owned buildings in the country that receive over €10 million in grants in efforts to unlock €267 million of energy efficiency measures. Last year the EIB Advisory Hub engaged extensively with Czech counterparts about the provision of support in the social and affordable housing sector. Work in this area is expected to advance and accelerate in 2023.
Background information:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances projects in four priority areas — infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Since the beginning of its lending operations in Slovakia in 1992, the EIB has invested €9.7 billion across key economic sectors — including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), transport, infrastructure, and energy. One of the EIB’s main activities in Slovakia is to help small businesses and improve their access to long-term financing by creating credit lines with local financial institutions.
The EIB Global finances sound investment contributing to EU policy goals, including a global just transition to climate neutrality. A subsidiary of the EIB, the European Investlent Fund (EIF) is Europe’s largest venture capital and private equity financier.
At a press conference held in Brussels on 2 February 2023, the EIB Group also unveiled a new logo, which aligns its corporate branding and visual identity with that of the other EU institutions and bodies. The new logo is based on two main elements: the European flag and a graphic element representing the silhouette of the EIB Group’s headquarters in Luxembourg.
About REPowerEU
The new co-investment initiative will enable Inven Capital to continue in its mission to invest in and support the growth of clean-tech start-ups with innovations that can scale positive change and eliminate negative planetary impact, focusing mainly on the topic of decarbonisation and sustainability. This cooperation also furthers the objectives of the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan aiming to save and produce clean energy and diversify our energy supplies and is backed by financial and legal means to build the new energy infrastructure that Europe needs. REPowerEU sets out a series of measures to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast-forward the green transition, while increasing energy system resilience EU-wide. The plan is based on finding alternative energy supplies, making behavioural changes to save energy and spurring investment in renewable energy.
