Press secretariat

In a significant boost to energy and water security in Central Asia, the European Union together with partners announced new investments in hydropower infrastructure in Central Asia. Particularly, the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant megaproject in Kyrgyzstan marked noticeable progress, with a total of €900 million in Memoranda of Understanding signed between the EU, European Investment Bank (EIB), and Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and an unveiled feasibility study co-funded by the EU and implemented by the World Bank. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also signed Memoranda of Understanding with Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and is considering an overall financing package of €1.3 billion in support of the project. 

Commissioner Síkela met with the deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Bùi Thanh Sơn during the Global Gateway Forum. In the margins of the meeting, the European Commission and other Team Europe actors announced a comprehensive €430 million package to advance the Bac Ai Pumped Hydro Storage Project, a flagship investment under Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

The European Investment Bank today announced it will deepen its cooperation with Europol by joining the organisation’s Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA for short). The platform is Europol’s flagship platform for the secure and swift exchange of sensitive and restricted information among EU law enforcement authorities, European agencies and bodies like Eurojust, Frontex and OLAF, as well as other cooperating states outside the EU. By joining SIENA, the EIB underlines its commitment to fighting fraud and makes sure it can rapidly exchange with the relevant authorities in a secure way.