September 19 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stands ready to scale up its investment in Romania, the bank's president Suma Chakrabarti said, adding that the authorities should step up reforms to unlock infrastructure development.
"We see large potential to further ramp up investment here. Romania is growing at the fastest rate in the European Union (EU). To support economic growth and help income levels converge with those of more advanced EU economies, the country needs major investment to expand, upgrade and maintain its infrastructure," Chakrabarti, who is paying a two-day visit to Romania, said as quoted in a press release by the bank on Tuesday evening.
"The EBRD is more than happy to finance well-designed projects in road and railway infrastructure, and restructure and help privatise state-owned enterprises," he added.
Chakrabarti pointed to the Constanta-based water utility RAJA as an example of a successful transformation in municipal infrastructure. Since 1994, the EBRD has provided over 60 million euro ($70 million) in financing to the company, helping it to become Romania’s largest and most developed regional water and wastewater operator, serving three million people in eight counties.
During his visit, the bank's president signed a new 25 million euro loan agreement with the utility to support the further expansion of their services and to reduce water losses, and a 5 million euro loan agreement with car rental services provider Autonom. In addition, the EBRD committed to support Romania's National Museum of Art by joining forces with a local non-governmental organisation.
The EBRD, a leading institutional investor in Romania, has invested close to 8 billion euro in the country to date. In 2017 alone, the bank invested 550 million euro.
($=0.8562 euro)