- EIB strengthens its support to Hrvatske Autoceste, City of Zagreb and Zagrebački Električni Tramvaj (ZET) with advisory services, backed by the InvestEU Advisory Hub
- European Investment Bank presents challenges and priorities for green transport development at the conference “Connected Croatia: Greening Mobility”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a series of advisory agreements with Croatian partners to support sustainable and efficient transport systems in the country and improving connectivity. The advisory support announced today is backed by the InvestEU Advisory Hub and highlights the EIB’s commitment to expanding the development and financing of mobility projects and Croatia’s green and digital transformation.
The EIB is strengthening its partnership with Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC), which is responsible for the management, construction, and maintenance of the majority of tolled motorway network in Croatia of approximately 1300 km. The new advisory services agreements will facilitate the implementation of projects involving the process of procuring and installing a new Electronic Toll Collection system on the motorways that HAC manages. The number of cars driving paid motorways in Croatia is growing dynamically, the new system will facilitate payments and will shorten the travelling time, reduce noise pollution, and make the road safer for the citizens.
The second agreement with HAC will cover advisory services related to greening the motorway network in Croatia, by developing a sound investment program in a variety of areas including road safety, environmental sustainability, road asset management system, installation of solar photovoltaic and electric vehicle charging, and Hydrogen refueling stations.
The EIB and the City of Zagreb and its public transport mobility company – ZET are planning to work together towards the decarbonization of the city’s urban public bus services. The planned advisory services will include a review of relevant policies, technologies and strategies, an analysis of City of Zagreb’s urban public transport system and a multiyear bus fleet decarbonization plan.
“The European Investment Bank continues its long-term support for sustainable development of the transport infrastructure in Croatia,” Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Teresa Czerwińska said. “Well-functioning green transportation network is pivotal for the economic development, labor market growth but also for everyday life of Croatians. Greening mobility is our duty since it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and supports pro-climate efforts.”
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković said: “Development of new technologies, digitalization and greening are key to the competitiveness of every economy and an opportunity for further development. In order to create the conditions for the development of sustainable mobility, we invest in a wide range of projects that will contribute to reducing the negative environmental impacts of the transport system, as well as improving access to safe, affordable and sustainable transport systems. These are investments related to sustainable urban transport, where we purchase new buses, trams, as well as trains for urban-suburban and regional transport. We also invest in infrastructure for charging vehicles with alternative fuel, greening systems and power supply in airports, and we place the greatest emphasis on further investments in railway infrastructure. For all these projects, we have secured national, European as well as credit resources where the EIB has been providing us with support and trust for many years.”
At the conference "Connected Croatia: greening mobility", Minister of Finance, Marko Primorac stressed a key role of mobility for the economy, but also challenges such as greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, as the transport sector faces the need to reduce its environmental footprints to make it more sustainable. Through cooperation with the European Investment Bank, as well as other international and domestic financial institutions, and especially through the use of EU funds, the Ministry of Finance supports projects of road transport, energy efficiency and improvement of rail connectivity with the aim of transforming the transport sector, as well as ensuring the competitiveness of the Croatian economy on a regional and global level.
Mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, expressed satisfaction with the agreement with the European Investment Bank. “The City of Zagreb is committed to promoting sustainable energy solutions for our public transport provider ZET, by focusing on environmental protection, energy efficiency, and use of renewable energy sources. We do this to provide more affordable and efficient service to our citizens.”
ZET CEO Marko Bogdanović added that he looked forward to working with the EIB through technical assistance. “This will speed up our efforts to decarbonize public transport, and reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, resulting in cleaner and more reliable public transport in Zagreb.”
Hrvatske Autoceste Director Boris Huzjan: The European Investment Bank and Hrvatske Autoceste are long-standing partners in development projects. This is exactly the continuation of cooperation through the InvestEU Program, through technical assistance in the field of implementation of the new toll collection system and development strategy for increasing energy efficiency and sustainable business. This is particularly important in the context of safer road infrastructure, implementation of environmental protection measures and road infrastructure management. Our goal is to improve, for example, the installation of higher quality protective wire fences, waste management at facilities and service areas, the development of solar photovoltaic power plants, as well as the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles and hydrogen charging stations. Ultimately, the goal of Hrvatske Autoceste is green socially responsible business and management, but also savings through a significant reduction in utility costs and maintenance costs after the completion of the energy renovation.
The EIB is a co-organizer of “Connected Croatia: Greening Mobility” conference that gathered EIB and local experts and focused on the key topics around investments in sustainable transport development. The modernization of Croatia’s transport sector is not only an internal development pre-condition, but also a key factor of competitiveness of the country in the wider region.
Background information
About InvestEU
The InvestEU program provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union's strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The program consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilize at least €372 billion in additional investment.
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