The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a EUR 100 million loan to the government of Extremadura for upgrading the region’s road network. The finance contract was signed this morning by EIB Vice-President Carlos da Silva Costa and Extremadura’s Economy Minister, Ángel Franco Rubio.
At the signing ceremony, the EIB Vice-President stressed that “the favourable financing terms offered by the EIB will make it possible to improve Extremadura’s infrastructure network and help strengthen the economic potential of the freshly connected areas by making the movement of goods and people more efficient. This type of project clearly gives a major boost to economic and social cohesion, one of the European Investment Bank’s priorities”.
Through its Planning Ministry, the government of Extremadura is upgrading a substantial part of the region’s road network, including the improvement of 13 sections of existing road totalling 204 km and the construction of 13 km of new bypasses in Navalvillar de Pela, Villar del Rey, Monterrubio de la Serena, Segura de León and Zafra. These schemes form part of the PIVEX 2008-2015 Road Infrastructure Plan and will serve to increase the roads’ capacity, reduce travel times and improve road safety in the region. The works financed by this loan are scheduled for completion in December 2013.
The EIB is the European Union’s long-term financing institution. Founded in 1958, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and more than 130 other countries around the globe.
Extremadura is one of the EU’s “convergence regions”. These are eligible for support under the EU’s Cohesion Policy for the period 2007-2013, which aims to foster their development and genuine convergence with the more advanced parts of Europe. Transport infrastructure is a key element of the creation of a single European market and the strengthening of economic and social cohesion between the EU Member States.
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