July 7 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) said that it will provide advisory support to Bulgaria's Burgas municipality, aiming to facilitate project preparation for the construction of a children's hospital.
The advisory support will consist of a comprehensive feasibility study that will include functional planning and preliminary designs for the hospital, in line with best international practices and standards, the EIB said in a statement on Monday.
The advisory support will also be key to unlocking access to finance for the project, including potentially from the European Structural and Investment Funds and the EIB, the EU bank said.
"This support also comes at a crucial time, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, and I am very glad we will be able to support one of Bulgaria’s largest cities in delivering state-of-the-art healthcare infrastructure to its people," EIB vice-president Lilyana Pavlova, commented.
"Building a new hospital that specialises in providing medical care to children is not only important for Burgas, but for the south-eastern region of Bulgaria as a whole. It will enable medical professionals to provide efficient treatment to child patients with serious medical conditions and will eliminate the unnecessary risks involved in transporting them to major hospitals in Sofia," Burgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov added.
The new hospital will be of particular importance for the region due to its concentration of established healthcare facilities and educational programmes, according to the EIB. The project, due to be completed by 2024, will also support economic growth and facilitate specialist employment, attracting more investment to a key sector of the Bulgarian economy.