European Investment Bank Group offers 907 million euros for new investments in Romania in 2021

Last year the European Investment Bank Group provided EUR 907 million for new investments across Romania.  The EIB Group’s engagement in the country included financing for construction of two new regional hospitals, modernization of the national electricity network to harness renewable energy and deployment of smart meters, improving energy efficiency and scaling up high-impact business investment.   “The European Investment Bank Group is working in close cooperation with Romanian partners to accelerate investment to improve key services, unlock economic opportunities and accelerate energy transition. Last year represented record EIB support for long-term health investment in Romania that will ensure better healthcare and treatment for patients in the years to come. The EIB and EIF also stepped-up support for targeted business financing to ensure that Romanian entrepreneurs and companies can invest, strengthen economic resilience and tackle challenges triggered by the COVID pandemic.” said Christian Kettel Thomsen, Vice President of the European Investment Bank.  EIB support for healthcare investment in Romania in 2021 represented the largest financing for health investments in 31 years of operations in the country.  Details of the EIB Group’s activity in Romania and support for private and public investment by Romanian partners were confirmed following a three-day official visit to Bucharest by Christian Kettel Thomsen, European Investment Bank Vice President.   The visit included discussions on Ukraine and EIB support for priority investment in Romania with Ministers of Finance, Energy, Research, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Transport, Health and Investment and European Projects, the governor of the National Bank of?Romania, senior government officials and private sector partners.  In Bucharest Vice President Thomsen signed two new agreements. The first with Transelectrica will strengthen cooperation to enhance and accelerate energy network investment across Romania. The second will extended cooperation to provide project advisory support to implement transport, energy, water, environment, and health projects across the country.  Largest ever EIB support for Romanian public health investment  Last year the EIB provided EUR 555 million for new investment to transform emergency healthcare in two of Romania’s largest, cities Cluj and Iasi. Including approval of financing for a regional hospital in Craiova,  In the last three years the EIB has approved a total of EUR 923 million financing for new hospital investment and advisory support with project preparation – with JASPERS and EIB Advisory Hub involvement – and project implementation – with the EIB’s project advisory support unit (PASSA). This represents the EIB’s largest ever support for healthcare in Romania.  The EIB is financing construction of two new regional emergency hospitals that will provide specialist healthcare for millions of people and hundreds of new in-patient beds.  The two new hospitals will both increase access to specialist patient treatment and improve medical education for future generations of doctors.  Supporting Romania’s energy network and improving energy efficiency  The first ever European Investment Bank financing for Electrica, totaling EUR 210 million signed last year, will support reinforcement and modernisation of the electricity distribution grid in the country. This includes upgrading and constructing new power lines, constructing and refurbishing of power substations and installing components for network automation across Romania.  The new EIB-backed investment will connect more than 180,000 customers, increase network capacity and improve reliability and quality of electricity supply. New investments will also support advanced-metering rollout and to enable long-term integration of renewable energy generation.  The EIB also provided EUR 41 million investment in Bucharest to reduce energy use by upgrading residential buildings in Sector 2 and Sector 6. The projects are part of the joint EIB-EU Smart Finance for Smart Buildings Initiative.   EIB and EIF supporting priority investment across Romania  In 2021 the EIB and EIF agreed to support investment by Romanian companies active in sectors most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with Intesa Sao Paolo Romania and scale up dedicated financing for Romanian agriculture companies with specialist partner Agricover.  The European Investment Fund agreed EUR 65 million of financing to Romanian financial intermediaries to enhance access to finance by companies and entrepreneurs.   This includes 7 new guarantee agreements to support lending by partners including Banca Transilvania, BCR Social Finance, FINS and Banca Comerciala Romania, Libra Bank and Raffeisen Bank.  Inclusive financing initiatives will also be strengthened by two new EIF agreements with Mikro Kapital and ROMCOM.  The EIF also agreed to provide EUR 7.5 million backing for specialist equity finance partner Catalyst Romania Fund II.  The EIF is working with Romanian financial intermediaries to enhance access to student loans, support companies investing skills and backing for companies that provide childcare for employees.   Building on EUR 18 billion Romanian investment track record  Over the last 31 years, the EIB Group has provided more than EUR 18 billion for public and private sector investment across Romania.   Sharing technical best practice through cooperation with Romanian partners  Last year the EIB Group’s dedicated advisory teams provided technical expertise for climate action and sustainability, across a range of sectors including transport, water and waste management, urban and rural development.   Background information:  The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.