Italy: EUR 120 million for improving the urban environment in Venice

The European Investment Bank (EIB) lent today to the Municipality of Venice EUR 120m to finance infrastructure work in support of urban development and environmental sustainability.

The project, approved by the EIB’s Board of Directors in July 2007, provides for the execution of infrastructure work required for the socioeconomic development of the city, with an aggregate cost of EUR 260m. The works, to be carried out by companies controlled by the Municipality of Venice which will independently enter into loan contracts with the EIB, are for:

• ACTV S.p.A.: ACTV’s new intermodal facilities at Isola Nova del Tronchetto for environmental sustainability and economic development;
• Insula S.p.A: renovation and rehabilitation of Piazzale Santa Maria Elisabetta at Venice Lido;
• PMV S.p.A: construction of the new terminal at Piazzale Santa Maria Elisabetta and other terminals in Venice;
• Edilvenezia SpA: restoration/restructuring of the “Pio Loco delle Penitenti” complex in  Cannaregio, which will become a nursing home for the infirm elderly (90 beds and 18 day care places for Alzheimer’s patients), and renovation of the former Istituto Stefanini in Mestre, which will serve as a primary and secondary education complex;
• ASM S.p.A, construction in Mestre of the new via Vallenari, linking via Vespucci to via Triestina;
• Venis S.p.A, implementation of a broadband wireless communication system.

The first three loan contracts were signed today in Venice in the boardroom of Ca’Loredan (local administration headquarters) by the EIB, represented by Mr Bruno Lago, Associate Director, Italy/Western Balkans Department, Mr Manfredi Tonci Ottieri, Associate Director in the Legal Affairs Directorate, and Ms Martine Fritz, and by the three signatory companies, represented by Mr Marcello Panettoni, Chairman of ACTV, Mr Giampaolo Sprocati, Chairman of Insula, and Mr Antonio Stifanelli, Chairman of PMV. This EIB loan to the city of Venice supplements the Bank’s financing activities in support of public infrastructure work in the Veneto Region.

Other financing operations signed recently include the Venice Tramway, Ca’ Foscari University and new Mestre Hospital projects, the Mestre bypass link road, the regional light railway line and support for regional SMEs through Veneto Sviluppo. 

Note for editors:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the European Union’s banking and financing group. Established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the EIB finances projects in all economic sectors in the 27 Member States and any other countries that have signed cooperation agreements with the European Union. In 2006, the EIB lent a total of EUR 45.8bn to finance projects furthering the European Union’s objectives. Loans to the EU Member States totalled EUR 39.8bn and accounted for 87% of the Bank’s activities. To fund its activities, the EIB raised an aggregate amount of EUR 48bn on the financial and capital markets through 303 bond issues in 24 currencies. Owned by the EU’s Member States, the EIB (with its triple A rating) is the world’s leading supranational issuer. The new strategy decided by the EIB’s Board of Governors in June 2005 focuses on financial innovation in order to support investment in an increasingly effective manner. The key features of this strategy are as follows:

• strengthening the leverage of EIB operations;
• concentrating Bank financing within the European Union on six priority areas: economic and social cohesion, supporting innovation, trans-European transport networks, environmental sustainability, support for SMEs and competitive and secure energy supplies;
• fostering economic convergence between the European Union and its partner countries.