May 22 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to invest 3.5 billion euro ($3.9 billion) in the Western Balkans over the next three years, a senior EIB official has said.
EIB intends to deploy an additional 2 billion euro to the Western Balkans over the next three years on top of 1.5 billion euro already planned, the head of the EIB Regional Representation for the Western Balkans, Dubravka Negre, said at an economic forum in Belgrade, according to a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug on Sunday.
With the EIB being a project driven-bank, its lending of funds depends on the level of preparedness of a project and project management - two areas in which the bank faces particular challenges, but tries to address them through technical assistance, Negre said during the Vienna Economic Talks forum in Belgrade.
The bank started its support to the region more than 15 years ago and today is one of the largest lenders to the Western Balkans, with close to 9 billion euro of committed financing, Negre said in an interview for the European Western Balkans news portal on Saturday.
The Vienna Economic Talks forum is taking place in Belgrade May 21-22 under the patronage of the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
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