>@EIB/EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 270m to finance the upgrade of a 40-kilometre section of the S7 express road between Koszwały and Kazimierzowo in northern Poland.

The EIB loan will finance the construction of a 2x2-lane expressway, partially following the existing road and partially along a new route in two northern Polish voivodeships - Pomorskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie. The project covers four interchanges and more than seventy engineering structures including two bridges over the Vistula River.

Vazil Hudák, EIB Vice-President in charge of operations in Poland, said: “The project will help unblock a major traffic bottleneck both for long-distance traffic and between the Gdańsk and Elbląg urban areas; improve the quality of life of citizens through increased transport safety; and have a positive impact on the environment due to a decrease in pollution. The EIB loan will be instrumental in this.

The borrower is Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland’s national promotional bank, with which the EIB has enjoyed long and successful cooperation.

The first Vice-President of BGK’s Board Paweł Nierada added: “The agreement signed today confirms the fruitful cooperation between BGK and the EIB, on-going already for almost 15 years. It allows us to acquire long-term financing for, among others, strategic road investments in Poland. Taking into account todays’ agreement the total value of EIB financing for the National Road Fund amounts to EUR 11.3bn.

The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA), responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of the national road network throughout Poland, is the project promoter and the final beneficiary of the EIB loan.

The total costs of the project are estimated at EUR 680m. The EIB will finance up to 40% of the project costs, with the remainder being funded by EU Cohesion Fund grants and by budgetary contributions from the Republic of Poland.