The loan will be extended under favourable terms and will be complemented by financing from the Connecting Europe Facility and cohesion funds, 2TDK said in a statement.
"The project brings cost efficiency, increased traffic safety and also environmental benefits. As a climate bank, we are aware of the growing importance of rail transport, which dictates a transition away from road transport. The latter is a significant source of increased pollution and urgently calls for sustainable transport solutions. The project is fully coordinated with the EU's transport policy and the green agenda and contributes significantly to achieving the goals of sustainable development," EIB vice president Kyriacos Kakouris said in the statement.
EIB's board of directors issued in July the final approval for the loan, which represents 21% of the project's total investment value of 1.109 billion euro.
"In 2019, the loan received first-level approval from the EIB board of directors. In the four years to date, in close cooperation with the EIB, we have achieved all the agreed milestones, thereby showing that the company 2TDK manages the second track project in a transparent and cost-effective manner. We are glad that the bank recognized the importance of the project not only for Slovenia, but also for the wider region," 2TDK director Marko Brezigar said.
The project is part of the plans for the construction of the Baltic-Adriatic-Mediterranean core railway corridor in the pan-European transport network. It will increase the capacity of the existing single-track line, which is no longer sufficient for current and expected demand.
In January, Slovenia's government extended the deadline for the construction of the second track of the Divaca-Koper railway line by six months, to the middle of 2026. The project envisages the construction of a 27 km second track, 75% of which consists of tunnels.
