The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing to the Slovak Republic a loan of EUR 1.3 billion for the implementation of projects receiving EU grants from the Cohesion and Structural Funds.  These investments have been identified as priorities under the Slovak National Strategic Reference Framework, for the programming period of 2007-13. The EIB support will partially cover the Slovak Republic’s co-financing contribution and will also be available for project pre-financing needs before the corresponding grant contribution is eventually released by the European Commission.

Mr Anton Rop, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending in Central Europe, including Slovakia, commented: “The EIB supports priority projects contributing to the convergence objective under EU regional policy. It ensured their implementation and accelerates the development of the Slovak economy by focusing, in particular, on investments helping Slovakia converge rapidly towards EU socio-economic and institutional standards”.

The EIB loan will co-finance schemes under eleven operational programmes involving more specifically the development of:

• Infrastructure and regional accessibility
• Knowledge-based economy and
• Human resources

All schemes will be implemented by 31 December 2015 in the Slovak regions covered by the EU convergence and regional competitiveness and employment objectives.

The current loan is the second EIB loan of this type, extending co-financing for projects supported by EU Funds. The Bank previously provided a EUR 95 million co-financing facility for the Slovak National Development Plan during the 2004-2006 programming period. This facility has been successfully implemented.

Note to editors:

The mission of the EIB, the European Union’s bank, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States by financing sound investment.

Since 1992, the Bank has provided funds exceeding EUR 4 billion, including the current loan, for projects promoting European objectives in Slovakia. The EIB’s lending operations cover all of the country’s economic sectors, ranging from basic infrastructure to manufacturing and services, including support for small and medium-sized companies via local financial institutions, and the development of a knowledge-based economy.