Vice-President Östros’s areas of oversight include financing of energy, health and life sciences, EIB Global (development policy together with Vice-President Fayolle; pre-accession policy is with Vice-President Pavlova), financing operations in Austria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia*, the ACP countries (Africa and the Pacific, except the Caribbean States and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), jointly with Vice-President Fayolle), relations with the EIB Group Audit Committee, corporate responsibility, diversity and inclusion, Legal – lending operations. Vice-President Östros also oversees relations with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Ombudsman, relations with the Gulf countries, relations with central banks' debt management offices, and relations with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB).
Austria: EIB and ÖHT finance eco-friendly tourism
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €150 million loan to Österreichische Hotel- und Tourismusbank (ÖHT). It will be paid out in several tranches and go towards supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the leisure and tourism industry in Austria. The loan is designed to enable family-run hotels and restaurants to invest in sustainable projects.