A framework loan of EUR 100 million for 20 years
signed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the
Czech Konsolidacní Banka (KOB) today will help
finance a number of smaller water supply and wastewater
schemes across the Czech Republic.
Commenting on the loan, EIB Vice-President Wolfgang
Roth said: 'The EIB and the Czech authorities, namely the
Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance and KOB
joined forces to develop a mechanism for channelling
suitable funding to smaller towns and regional entities
undertaking urgent investment into the modernisation of
the water sector throughout the country. Such investment
is required to reach EU water quality standards in view
of upcoming Czech accession to the Union. Together with
last year's EUR 50 million loan for upgrading the water
networks in Prague, this new loan brings EIB support to
municipal water schemes to EUR 150 million.'
The EIB, the European Union's financing arm, provided
its first loan for projects in the Czech Republic in 1992
and lent over EUR 2.3 billion in the Czech Republic so
far. More than half was lent to Czech transport schemes,
including some EUR 400 million for the modernisation of
the major international railway lines in the country.
Other EIB loans went to the Czech telecommunications
fixed network, environment-friendly investments in
several coal-fired power stations in northern Bohemia,
municipal infrastructure and the reconstruction of
infrastructure damaged during the 1997 floods in northern
Moravia. Small and medium-scale industrial and energy
investments are being financed through global loans
(credit lines) to Czech and international commercial
banks in the Czech Republic.
Since 1990, the EIB has lent some EUR 11.5 billion to
projects in thirteen Central European countries: Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. Annual lending in the
ten Central European candidates for EU accession has
averaged some EUR 2 billion between 1997 and 1999. In
line with decisions by the EIB's Board of Governors (the
fifteen EU Finance Ministers), lending to projects in the
region may double to an annual EUR 4 billion over the
coming three years.
For further information, please contact
the EIB's Information and Communications Department (Mr. Max Messner, tel.: +352 43 79
31 50, e-mail: m.messner@eib.org).
1 EUR = 1,95583 DEM; 0,613400 GBP; 35.5850 CZK.
