>@EIB

Mr Anton Rop has been appointed Vice-President and Member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB). He will take up his post on 18 August 2010, succeeding Ms Marta Gajęcka, who has completed a three year term as EIB Vice-President.

Mr Rop, a Slovenian citizen, has been appointed by the EIB’s Board of Governors on the basis of a proposal from the Minister of Finance of Slovenia with the agreement of the shareholder constituency composed of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

In the Bank’s Management Committee, Mr Rop will hold supervisory responsibility for operations in several Member States of the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and for financing in support of the development of the trans-European transport and energy networks (TENs). He will also serve as an Alternate Governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), of which the EIB is a shareholder.

Mr Rop commented on the announcement of his appointment: “I am grateful for having the opportunity to join an institution which is helping the EU go forward by contributing to the real economy and especially by fostering the economic progress and deeper integration of the countries that have joined the Union since 2004”.

Prior to joining the EIB, Mr Rop was a Deputy in the National Assembly of Slovenia, chairing the Committee on Finance and Monetary Policy. From 2002 to 2004, he was Prime Minister of Slovenia after having been Minister of Finance since 2000. From 1996 to 2000, he held the position of Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs. Mr Anton Rop graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana with a Master’s degree in economics, having also completed a thesis on government spending and economic growth.

Note to the Editors:

The Management Committee of the EIB is the permanent collegiate executive body of the institution. It is composed of a President and eight Vice Presidents. Under the authority of the current President Philippe Maystadt, it oversees the running of the EIB, prepares decisions for the Board of Directors and ensures that they are implemented. The members of the Management Committee are responsible solely to the Bank; they are appointed by the Board of Governors, on a proposal from the Board of Directors. The EIB’s Management Committee has its headquarters in Luxembourg.
The European Investment Bank was created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958 as the long-term lending bank of the European Union. The task of the Bank is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. The EIB raises substantial volumes of funds on the capital markets, which it lends on favorable terms to projects furthering EU policy objectives. The EIB continuously adapts its activity to developments in EU policies. In 2009, it provided more than EUR 70 billion of funding for projects within the European Union.