OREANDA-NEWS. The European Investment Bank (EIB) provided new loans totalling to EUR 874m and the European Investment Fund (EIF – building together with EIB the EIB Group) executed operations in Slovakia amounting to EUR 44m. The bank focused mainly on support to projects contributing to the sustainable growth, creation of new employment opportunities and on co-financing priority investments receiving support from EU funds.

EIB Group signatures in 2016 represented 1.1% of Slovakia’s GDP - the 4th position among EU Member States.

EIB Vice-President Vazil Hud?k, responsible for the Bank’s activities in Central European countries, presented the results in Bratislava today, stated: “2016 was a successful year for the EIB Group in Slovakia. Our support concentrated on priority projects strengthening the competitiveness of Slovakia, contributing to the growth and employment and improving the quality of life of country’s citizens.  We will continue to focus on operations increasing the involvement of particularly the private capital in Slovakia towards implementing projects linked with a higher risk”.  

In the area of the strategic infrastructure in 2016 the EIB signed a EUR 427m financing agreement to support the design and construction of approximately 27 km of the D4 motorway around Bratislava. This is the first EIB transaction in Slovakia benefitting from the support of the EU budget guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financing component of the Investment Plan for Europe (IPE). This transaction is unique in three respects: it is by far the largest EFSI project in Central and Eastern Europe up to the end of 2016, it is a model for combining EFSI support with European Structural and Investment Funds and it is a bold PPP structure.

The bank continued to co-finance projects with EU grants and provided a loan of EUR 250m to co-finance priority projects identified under the Slovak Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 that receive support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The EIB loan covers the national co-financing contribution to implementing projects in rural areas across the whole territory of Slovakia. This loan is financing projects with a total value of EUR 1.66 billion. It is focused to save and create new job opportunities, particularly in the less developed rural areas of Slovakia facing higher unemployment, mainly in the sectors of agri-food production and processing, forestry, rural tourism and services.