Montenegro, EIB Sign Five-Year 196 Mln Euro Credit Agreement

"The memorandum envisages that, besides the projects the Montenegrin government and the EIB board have already approved like the 57 million euro waste water management project and the 34 million euro railways infrastructure rehabilitation, EIB will also provide lending support to the value of 30 million euro for a solid waste management project, 15 million euro for the Podgorca-Niksic railway section upgrade and 60 million euro for beltways construction in Montenegrin cities," the government said in a statement on Monday.

According to the memorandum, EIB lending contracts worth 82 million euro will be signed as soon as 2009, the statement added.

The EIB financing is helping Montenegro meet European Union accession criteria and supports 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 with the bloc. The Adriatic republic decided in a 2006 referendum to restore its independence and broke off 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.

($=0.7798 euro)