BELGRADE (Serbia), July 12 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement to provide a 10 million euro ($11.3 million) grant to finance water supply and sewers systems in Serbia, the bank said on Friday.
The grant is a part of an 80 million euro investment in Serbian water supply and sewers systems, also financed by a 40 million euro EIB loan signed in May 2019, the bank said in a statement.
The remaining part of the investment will be provided by the state and municipal budgets, with the implementation of projects planned between 2019 and 2024.
"Only in the last 10 years, EIB provided more than 8 billion euro to finance projects in the region of which almost half of this amount in Serbia. The grant will help the relevant investments in Serbia to be more affordable and sustainable, thanks to our donors to the Economic Resilience Initiative," EIB Director for Croatia, Italy, Malta, and Western Balkans Miguel Morgado said in the statement.
The EIB grant is the first signed in Serbia under the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) and the biggest grant signed to date in the Western Balkans, the bank noted.
"This significant EU contribution - in grant and preferential loan - confirms that the accession to the EU is focused on very concrete projects. Efficient water supply and new sewers facilities for more than half a million people translate into tangible results of the accession commitment regarding the environment undertaken by Serbia," the European Union ambassador to Serbia, Sem Fabrizi, noted.
The EIB has lent about 5.4 billion euro to Serbia since 2000. The principal focus has been on transport to provide better links for the country and the region, but small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have also been a priority objective. In 2018 alone, the EIB lent 140 million euro for SME projects to help boost growth and job creation.
($ = 0.888133 euro)