More than 8 400 new EV charging stations will be built in three Eastern European countries. The project is expected to boost the market penetration of electric vehicles and fight air pollution. This deal affirms the EIB’s support for sustainable transport and EU Green Deal objectives. The financing is backed by an InvestEU guarantee for investments that advance the green transition. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €40 million loan to the Austrian-registered Eldrive Holding GmbH to install 8 472 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania over the next three years. The project supports clean mobility and the EU Green Deal goals for sustainable transport and decarbonisation. This agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme, which aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027. The InvestEU programme mobilises investment for EU policy priorities like the green transition, competitiveness, innovation and sustainable infrastructure. With InvestEU and the EIB’s financial support, Eldrive Holding plans to invest about €146 million to deploy 4 376 new EV charging stations in Romania, 2 575 in Lithuania and 1 530 in Bulgaria, accelerating the infrastructure rollout needed to develop clean transport in these three countries, and supporting the transition to climate neutrality. The project will improve the low market penetration of electric vehicles and charging points in the three countries, and help them deliver on the EU Green Deal objective of having one million public EV chargers and alternative fuel stations spread across the 27 Member States by 2025. These EV charging networks will underpin the shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in urban areas of Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania. “This is a very important project,” said EIB Vice-President Kyriacos Kakouris. “The transport sector is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The transition to e-mobility can help reduce them, as well as air pollution. However, a serious shift to electric vehicles cannot take off without the necessary infrastructure. As the EU’s climate bank, the EIB supports new EV charging networks, and I am very pleased that we will be part of modernising transport in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania.” Eldrive Holding, controlled by Bulgarian investors, already operates over 1 200 EV charging points in the three countries. EV charging is one of the sectors eligible for additional support under the EIB’s special initiative to support REPowerEU, the EU plan designed to end Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports. The EU bank has committed an additional €45 billion in financing, on top of its regular lending volumes, for REPowerEU-aligned projects. “Securing the trust of the EIB is a substantial milestone for Eldrive. It is an important recognition of the resilience of our business strategy, implementation and growth achieved over the past few years. Having the EIB as a partner on this project will help us quickly and effectively expand our network and become one of the leading charging point operators in Europe,” said Eldrive CEO Stefan Spassov. Background information The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by the Member States. It finances sound investments that pursue EU policy goals. The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for EU policy priorities like the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increasing their risk-bearing capacity and mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment. Eldrive Holding is a leading EV charging station operator in Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania, focused mainly on fast and superfast charging. The company operates more than 1 200 charging points and has developed an ambitious pipeline for future growth and international expansion.
In the context in which agri-food systems are responsible for almost one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, Auchan Romania assumes an active role in the transition of its supply chain toward a more sustainable model. At the second edition of the Climate Supplier Event, organized under the aegis of the Climate Change Summit, the […]
Janiva Magness, the winner of seven Blues Music Awards following 26 nominations, and nominated for a Grammy for a career spanning 17 albums, is set to perform at the 14th edition of the Brașov Jazz & Blues Festival, which will take place between August 14–16, 2026. Magness is one of the most valuable and influential […]
Auction house Artmark announced a major auction for this winter featuring an engraving created by Francisco Goya, the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Romania's late communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu received this gift from King Juan Carlos I as a gesture of diplomacy. The engraving entitled “The Engagement – Capricho […]
Authorities managing Romania's Bicaz Gorges–Hășmaș National Park has built a fish ladder system on the Bicaz River, which will allow protected species to migrate and reproduce. There are several bridges and small bridge structures in the Bicaz River that have a “bottom sill,” meaning small waterfalls. Fish that do not jump like the trout cannot […]
The far-right opposition parties in the Romanian Parliament are set to file a motion of no confidence against the government headed by prime minister Ilie Bolojan. The motion, authored by senator Ninel Peia of the Peace – Romania First group, is specifically aimed at the reformist party Save Romania Union (USR), and is entitled “Romania […]
Romania's iconic rock singer Adrian Pleșca, known as “Artan,” died on Tuesday, December 2, after a fatal stroke, at the age of 64. The artist founded the well-known band “Timpuri Noi” in 1982 and “Partizan” in 2001, and was popular on the Romanian rock scene. Over the years, he left and returned to the two bands. Several […]
