May 5 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in is providing a 50 million euro ($53 million) loan to the city of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and its largest city, to support its vital public utilities, including water and transport.
“The s loan will be on-lent as working capital to two critical infrastructure providers: Zagrebacki Holding, the municipal holding entity responsible for water supply and wastewater collection, waste management, management and maintenance of public areas and public roads in the city; and Zagrebacki elektricni tramvaj (ZET), the public transport provider in Zagreb and surrounding towns,” the lender said in a statement on Tuesday.
This support will meet the liquidity and working capital needs of these critical infrastructure providers, and compensate for temporary revenue losses due to the Covid-19 crisis and the earthquakes that hit the Zagreb area in 2020, causing an estimated 11 billion euro in damages.
In the previous project with Zagreb in 2016, the EBRD invested 5.9 million euro equivalent in local currency into the bonds issued by Zagrebacki Holding, which were fully guaranteed by the City of Zagreb.
($ = 0.943 euro)