February 3 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) increased its investments in the Western Balkans by 50% in 2020 to a total of 873 million euro ($1.05 billion) and provided extensive support to the recovery from COVID-19 under the European Union’s Team Europe initiative, it said.
The biggest part of the investment, 531 million euro, was allocated to constructing and modernising transport infrastructure in the Western Balkans, including a major investment on Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina that also benefited from a 12 million euro grant provided under the EU Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), the EIB said in a statement on Tuesday.
EIB supported a diversified portfolio of investments in key sectors for the region, including a 65 million euro investment for digitalising over 1,500 schools across Serbia, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) received significant support with a 320 million euro investment for the banking sector to support small businesses, the lender said.
"However, we will not stop there, but will continue to provide our full support to help the region overcome the COVID-19 crisis, advance with EU integration and accelerate the much needed economic transformation into a green and digital market. We are particularly proud of the EIB's first impact finance loan that will boost youth employment and women’s entrepreneurship while triggering investment in the digitalisation of the private and public sector," Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, who is responsible for the Western Balkans, said.
In 2021, the bank plans to deliver more support for climate action, the recovery of SMEs, connectivity, digital transformation and projects encouraging inclusive employment. The EIB looks forward to working with all of its partners on implementing this major plan that aims to mobilise up to 9 billion euro for inclusive growth, sustainable transport, the digital and green transformation and the creation of a common regional market, with 20 billion euro in investment also expected to be leveraged by the Western Balkan Guarantee Facility.
The EIB is playing a leading role in Team Europe’s response to the COVID crisis, committing 1.7 billion euro of the 3.3 billion euro total announced at the EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit in May 2020. The bank has mobilised over 1 billion euro to accelerate the recovery from COVID-19 in the Western Balkans. The funds were channelled to provide immediate assistance for the healthcare and private sector, especially small companies, the hardest hit by the pandemic.
($ = 0.8309 euro)