Poland will contribute to technical assistance fund for Eastern Partnership countries

On the occasion of the Eastern Partnership Summit held in Warsaw on 29 - 30 September 2011, the Republic of Poland has announced it would participate in the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF) with a EUR 1 million contribution.

The EPTATF is the trust fund launched by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in December 2010. It focuses on increasing the quality and development impact of Eastern Partnership operations by making available much-needed technical assistance. It aims to speed up and ensure more successful project implementation in Eastern Partnership Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus*, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine).

At the Eastern Partnership Summit, EIB Vice-President Wilhem Molterer, responsible for lending coordination in the Eastern Partnership countries, commented: “In times of economic hardship, we are particularly grateful for Poland’s initiative: establishing closer political association and building deeper economic integration between the EU and the Eastern Partnership region is indeed our shared priority. This contribution will directly contribute to funding critically needed projects”.

Background:

The mission of the EIB, the European Union’s bank, which is owned by the 27 EU Member States, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States by financing sound investments. In the Eastern Partnership countries, the EIB supports the EU Neighbourhood Policy by financing projects of significant interest to the EU.

Under the current mandate, the EIB can lend up to EUR 3.7 billion to projects in Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus and Russia during the 2007–2013 period. In this context, the EIB is prepared to consider supporting sound projects in the areas of transport, energy, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure. In addition, in Eastern Partnership countries, the EIB can support SMEs through lending via banks.

To complement the mandate, EIB has set up the Eastern Partners Facility (EPF) at its own risk for an amount of EUR 1.5 billion, with a EUR 500 million ceiling for projects in Russia. This facility enables the Bank to support investment grade projects, notably EU Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the region.

The EPTATF is governed by a Contributors’ Committee. Contributions can be provided by EU Member States, the European Commission, beneficiary countries and interested third parties. The Fund is administered by the EIB on behalf of its contributors.