EIB Lends 20 Mln Euro to Montenegro to Support Infrastructure Projects

A loan of seven million euro will finance the rehabilitation of the Montenegrin part of Bar-Podgorica-Belgrade railway line, which links the country’s Adriatic coast with the capital of landlocked Serbia, EIB said in a statement late on Tuesday. The loan will be also used for the purchase of new rolling stock. This loan is part of a larger EIB railway project, for which the bank agreed to provide 34 million euro in the coming years.

“Another 5 million euro loan will support the “Montenegro Water and Sanitation” programme, in the first instalment of the total approved amount of 57 million euro,” the statement added. “The EIB funds will finance the water and wastewater infrastructure projects of Montenegro’s municipalities.”

The other loans will support road rehabilitation, energy and air transport projects, the bank said without elaborating.

EIB financing helps Montenegro to meet the European Union accession criteria and support the economic development of the country. Montenegro's prospects of joining the EU were boosted in October 2007 when the country signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the bloc. The Adriatic republic decided in a 2006 referendum to restore its independence and broke its loose union with Serbia that replaced rump Yugoslavia in 2001.

Since 2000, the EIB has provided some 80 million euro to Montenegro for transport and energy projects. The EIB is expected to further provide a total of some 160 million euro for these sectors and for environmental protection in the country over the next few years.

($=0.7083 euro)