EBRD lends Timisoara 30 million euro for urban regeneration

 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending 30 million euro to the Romanian city of Timisoara to co-finance, alongside the European Union (EU), priority investments in the district heating network and urban regeneration, according to a press release the financial institution issued on Friday.The EBRD finance, together with EU finance of 63.5 million euro, will be used in two areas of investment. The first is the rehabilitation and modernisation of the city's district heating network, including replacing 27 km of old pipelines, new heating chimneys, valves and supports, and an automated monitoring system. The upgrades will improve efficiency while also preparing for future integration of renewable energy and waste heat sources.The second investment area, urban regeneration in the historic Traian Square area, will involve improvements to public spaces, pedestrian and bike infrastructure, tram lines, green areas, and utility networks. LED street lighting, irrigation systems, and smart technologies like traffic management software and CCTV are also envisaged. These improvements are expected to result in emission savings as well as modal shift from private car use, expanding the share of non-motorised transport (cycling and walking) and public transport users."The loan we are contracting is a very advantageous one and has a clear purpose: financing two major development projects for Timisoara - the urban regeneration for Traian area and the modernisation of the district heating system. For these projects, we already have over 60 million euros secured from European funds. These are investments that are transforming Timisoara, making the city more modern and more functional. These projects are not just about infrastructure, but about improving the quality of life for Timisoara's residents and supporting the city's development,' Dominic Fritz, the Mayor of Timisoara is quoted in the release as saying.Timisoara joined the EBRD Green Cities programme in 2021, an initiative dedicated to urban sustainability, through which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) granted 20.3 million euro in financing for the modernisation of public transport, co-financed by the European Union.The EBRD is an international financial institution that promotes the development of the private sector and entrepreneurial initiatives across 36 countries on three continents. The bank's shareholders include 73 countries, the European Union, and the European Investment Bank (EIB). EBRD investments aim to transform the economies of its regions of operation so that they become competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient and integrated.The EBRD is a long-term investor in Romania since 1992 and it has invested more than 12 billion euro in 573 projects to date.