Romania Secures Record €4 Billion In EIB Funding In One Year

Romania recorded a record last year, attracting financing of approximately 1.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the European Investment Bank (EIB).   Last year, Romania recorded a record level of financing obtained from the EIB Group, with a total of financial commitments worth 4.1 billion euros, the highest level so far, according to data cited by Mihai Precup, director within the Board of Directors and Romania’s representative at the EIB.   Of the volume of financing, over 1.8 billion euros represent financing granted directly to projects, and approximately 2.3 billion euros are credit lines for SMEs’ access to financing through the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of DRINK. Thus, the financing of investment projects for which Romania directly signed financing agreements with the international institution was at a level twice as high as compared to the previous year, when projects worth 935 million euros were signed.   “As Romania’s representative at the European Investment Bank, I used my expertise to attract and facilitate access to essential financial resources for the sustainable economic development of the country, by promoting sustainable and priority investment projects for Romania. This included initiatives aimed at supporting portfolios of major and strategic projects in various sectors of activity, initiated both in the public and private sectors, in our country’s efforts to increase its competitiveness, but also to continue the development and modernization process,” said Mihai Precup, director within the Board of Directors and Romania’s representative at the EIB.   By project category, the amount attracted by companies was more than 10 times higher than in 2022. Thus, in 2023 investment projects were signed with the EIB worth 292 million euros, compared to 25 million euros, as much as was signed in the previous year. Also, the number of projects signed for Romanian companies tripled in 2023, compared to the previous year, which highlights the fact that more and more initiatives of the business environment in our country are eligible for financing.   The largest financing project with the EIB, signed in 2023, was with Nuclearelectrica in the amount of 145 million euros, to support the construction of the first detritus installation in Europe at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (CNE Cernavoda).   In second place was the financing of a project in the field of solar energy in the amount of 56 million euros for the logistics developer CTP. Another financing project for our country was attracted for the drug manufacturer Antibiotice SA, the value of which amounts to 25 million euros, intended for the development of new production lines, digitalization, as well as the increase of research and development capacities.   In addition to the support given to the business environment, our country benefited from substantial financing from the European Investment Bank and in the public sector, for which 2023 projects were signed with a total cumulative value of over 865 million euros. The largest investment project in the public sector signed last year is intended for the transport sector and has a value of 600 million euros. It aims to complete 319 kilometers of the A 7 highway, between Ploiesti and Pascani.   Moreover, the credit lines that Romanian SMEs obtained from the EIB rose in 2023 to a total level of over 700 million euros. This represents a significant increase, more than three times, compared to the previous year, when the value of these credits amounted to 197 million euros.