Italy: InvestEU - EIB provides €100 million to MM to improve efficiency of water services in Milan

• EIB financing in support of MM S.p.A.'s 2025-2029 investment programme
• The project will strengthen the resilience and reliability of integrated water services, thereby improving the quality, environmental sustainability and safety of infrastructure for over 1.4 million residents
• The operation is supported by InvestEU, the European Union’s investment programme through which the EIB has already unlocked more than €4 billion in Italy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €100 million loan to support the 2025-2029 investment programme of MM S.p.A., the municipality of Milan’s integrated water services management company, which meets aggregate demand from around two million people – 1.4 million residents plus commuters and visitors. The agreement, which marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of MM, was announced today by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and CEO of MM S.p.A. Francesco Mascolo.

This operation, the second between the EIB and MM following the €70 million operation signed in 2016, is backed by the guarantee of InvestEU, the European Union’s investment programme through which the EIB has already unlocked more than €4 billion in Italy.

The funds made available by the EIB will enable the company to implement its investment plan, duly agreed upon with the Milan Metropolitan Area Office (“Ufficio d’Ambito”) and the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment (ARERA). MM's investment programme aims to make water supply more reliable and resilient to extreme weather events such as droughts and heavy rain, make the service more energy efficient and develop circular economy projects concerning wastewater collection and treatment.

Thanks to the best interest rate terms available on international markets, the EIB financing will provide MM with more favourable financial conditions than through traditional banking channels in terms of both cost and maturity, thereby further strengthening its financial position and accelerating project implementation.

“This financing illustrates the EIB’s role as one of the world’s leading public lenders to the water sector and represents a significant step forward in strengthening infrastructure in Milan, making the service more resilient, secure and efficient,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

“This agreement with the EIB comes at a historic time for water management companies as new directives come into force and the European Commission launches the Water Resilience Strategy. MM is ready to face new challenges with the aim of further improving performance. Indeed, thanks to investments in recent years, network losses have been cut to 11% compared to the national average of 40%, enabling Milan to maintain one of the lowest tariffs in Europe,” said CEO of MM Francesco Mascolo.

Italy receives more EIB funding for the water sector than any other country

With over 1 770 projects and more than €86 billion in financing provided since 1958, the EIB is one of the world’s leading lenders to the water sector. In the last ten years, Italy has received more EIB funding for the water sector than any other country, with operations financed totalling more than €4.3 billion.

Background information

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight key priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. The EIB Group signed 99 operations totalling €10.98 billion in Italy in 2024, unlocking almost €37 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment. Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the funds made available by the Group unlocked over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised a further €110 billion for startups and scale-ups. Around half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

MM Spa was founded in 1955 as Metropolitana Milanese, an engineering firm wholly owned by the municipality of Milan, to design the Milan underground railway lines. Over the years, the company has extended its areas of activity, while still remaining active in its traditional and recognised specialist area of engineering. Since 2003, the municipality of Milan has entrusted management of the city's integrated water services to MM: groundwater abstraction and purification, quality control and returning water to the ecosystem and for farming purposes. Since 2014, MM has worked together with the municipality of Milan in managing and modernising public housing, taking care of administrative activities, customer relations, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. In 2018, the company inaugurated its corporate museum in Milan, the Centrale dell’Acqua – a space open to the public that is dedicated to water issues. Since 2020, MM has performed scheduled ordinary maintenance activities at set intervals and has provided emergency intervention services in school buildings and sports facilities owned by the municipality of Milan and managed by Milanosport. In 2022, MM launched green ERP (enterprise resource planning operations relevant to assets belonging to the municipality of Milan. It has been responsible for ordinary maintenance of Milan’s roads since 2023 and for maintenance of the city’s green public spaces since 2025.