LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), February 8 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) increased its investment in the Slovenian economy by 20% to 221 million euro ($266 million) in 2020, it said.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) invested 33 million euro in Slovenia's economy last year, bringing the total value of loans, equity and guarantees provided by the EIB Group in the country to 254 million euro, the EIB said in a statement on Friday.
The EIB advisory services continued to help public and private promoters in Slovenia develop projects in a wide range of areas such as sustainable urban mobility, agriculture and agrifood, climate action, and energy efficiency, while financial advisory support was also provided to innovative companies to find the best funding options for their research and development (R&D) programmes and tangible investments, the lender said.
"In 2020, EIB Group investments in Slovenia focused mostly on the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reinforcing long-term economic sustainability of Slovenia. Our investments helped make Slovenia more resilient and improved the quality of life and doing business in the country. We are also proud to have contributed to the further modernisation of key infrastructure in the country. In 2021, the bank will focus on COVID-19 recovery, climate action and sustainable, circular economy," EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova said.
The 100 million euro lending to Telekom Slovenije’s high-speed internet network expansion, 90 million euro for the Karavanke tunnel upgrade, and 31 million euro for Elektro Maribor’s energy distribution increased total EIB investments in the country to 7.21 billion euro since 1977.
EIF invested 3 million euro in Slovenia through equity operations and 30 million euro in guarantees, making 2020 the second most successful year for the EIF in Slovenia in the last five years. Since 2016, the EIF has invested close to 100 million euro in equity, guarantees and inclusive finance in Slovenia.
($ = 0.830921 euro)