This year, the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group will continue to support the green and digital transformation of Poland, high-quality infrastructure projects in cities and regions, innovation and the development of small businesses. Support to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will be continued. The group will support countries receiving refugees from Ukraine – Poland will be the main beneficiary of this support, the bank announced.
“We are very pleased with the growth of green investments in particular and the increase in financing in the area of digitization and innovation. Financing of green investments has been growing for another year in a row and has reached 42% of all investments in Poland. In turn, projects in the field of digitization, innovation and human capital were co-financed by 1,459 The EIB Group will certainly continue this support, especially in the difficult times caused by the war in Ukraine,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska.
As Czerwińska informed on Wednesday, the total financing of the EIB Group for Poland increased to a record amount of EUR 6.5 billion last year, which puts our country in the fourth place in terms of the volume of financing among the EIB Group beneficiary countries.
This year, the EIB Group will continue to support the green and digital transformation of Poland, high-quality infrastructure projects in cities and regions, innovation and small business development. Support for the Covid-19 pandemic will continue. The InvestEU initiative, the new European Commission’s modernization program, has started The EIB Group, through the EIB and the EIF, will implement 75% of the program, combining our loans and other financial instruments with guarantees from the EU budget. An operational agreement between the EIB Group and the European Commission was signed on 9 March 2022.
The effects of the war in Ukraine are felt by the neighboring countries, and therefore the EIB Group will support countries receiving refugees from Ukraine – Poland will be the main beneficiary of this support, it was also stated.
In 2022, the EIB signed the following agreements:
• EDPR – PLN 304 million – is the largest EIB investment in onshore wind farms in Poland.
• P4 / Play – PLN 470 million – will help to eliminate inequalities in access to ultra-fast broadband Internet services.
• BGK – EUR 250 million – modernization of the S3 route connecting Świnoujście with Szczecin.
• Bank Pekao Group – EUR 132 million – financing for SMEs – 20% of the loan will support projects promoting environmental protection. Another 20% will support the development of female entrepreneurship and projects promoting gender equality.
• Bank Millennium – PLN 330 million – securitization transaction that will help the bank to develop its financing for small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland.
• PFR – strategic cooperation agreement
Summing up 2021, the EIB points out that the level of investments supporting the green transformation of the Polish economy grew for another year in a row, and this result amounted to 42%. The financing of projects related to innovation, digitization and support for human capital development increased to EUR 1.459 billion (from EUR 1.225 billion a year earlier). Investments in the development of research and science are very important for the development of the economy – two contracts totaling EUR 542 million. Last year, the EIB Group allocated to infrastructure and sustainable development of cities and regions. 38% of all funds – EUR 2.161 billion. SMEs received co-financing from the EIB Group in the amount of EUR 1.780 billion. EIB loans accounted for 65% of the financing and 35% by guarantees and equity investments from the EIF.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is an institution of the European Union that belongs to its Member States. It provides long-term finance for key investments contributing to EU policy goals. The bank finances projects in four priority areas – infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Source: EIB and ISBnews
