March 6 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided 590 million euro ($731.5 million) of new loans, guarantees and equity investment in Croatia in 2017, EIB said on Tuesday.
The EIB Group’s operations in Croatia account for some 1.22% of Croatia’s GDP, ranking Croatia third among EU member states in this regard, far above the EU average of 0.46%, the lender said in a statement.
The group operations in Croatia in 2017 funded 1,100 businesses and supported more than 15,000 jobs, the EIB noted.
On Tuesday, the EIB kickstarted its 2018 operations in Croatia with a 16 million euro loan to hotel operator Valamar Rivera and a 15 million euro loan to state-owned development bank HBOR.
EIB's loan to Valamar will co-finance the completion of Valamar Girandella Resort with the construction of the first five-star Kinderhotel in Valamar Riviera’s portfolio, the bank said.
The HBOR loan, it explained, will support investments targeting biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation, particularly focusing on green infrastructure projects.
The EIB also signed on Tuesday an advisory agreement with Croatia’s ministry of regional development and European funds, enabling the EIB Group, with the support of the ministry, to provide advisory services to public and private entities.
The advisory services will help to identify, prepare and develop investment projects in the framework of the European Investment Advisory Hub.
"We are pleased to see the EIB Group activity in Croatia growing both in annual volume and in the variety of products available, well-illustrated through the three agreements signed today," Croatia's finance minister, Zdravko Maric, is quoted saying.
In 2017, the EIB increased its lending by 15 million euro to finance the expansion and upgrading of Dubrovnik Airport, part of the trans-European comprehensive airport network, thereby contributing 32.5 million euro in total to this project. It also concluded six intermediated loan contracts amounting to 414 million euro with Croatia’s financing institutions in 2017, for on-lending to SMEs and municipalities.
($=0.8066 euro)