The Prime Minister of Romania Mr. Adrian Nastase who is paying an official visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg met the President of the European Investment Bank Mr. Philippe Maystadt on 8 October.
The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Mr Mihai Nicolae Tanesescu, Minister of Finance, and Mr Tudorel Postolache, Ambassador of Romania, discussed with EIB representatives future cooperation with the Bank and its future investment in Romania.
EIB's task is to support and strengthen EU objectives, particularly helping Romania to meet EU's membership criteria, adapting to European standards in various sectors such as the environment, and foster the economic integration of the country into the EU. The Bank cooperates closely with the Romanian government to identify suitable investment projects and combines its lending operations with financial means granted by EU in the framework of the pre-accession assistance to Romania.
Since 1990, the EIB has lent a total of EUR 21 billion in Central and Eastern Europe to finance projects fostering the European integration. Loans provided to Romania since 1990 amount to almost EUR 3 billion. The majority of the EIB investment in Romania was focused on the development of the transport infrastructure that is essential for the integration of Romania into the Single Market as well as for better economic integration with other countries in the region. Recently, the EIB lent EUR 131 million for the rehabilitation and furnishing of about 1 400 secondary schools all over the country and EUR 112 million for the rehabilitation of schools in Bucharest.