BELGRADE (Serbia), October 17 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a 35 million euro ($38.9 million) loan deal with the city of Belgrade to finance the construction of sewerage system and a wastewater treatment plant in the Palilula municipality of Serbia's capital, the lender said.
The project will help provide better sanitation and living conditions for approximately 170 000 people living in the municipality, will contribute to reducing environmental pollution and will increase the EIB’s support for the environment sector in line with the EU strategy for the Western Balkans, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
In addition to the EIB loan, the investment will benefit from a 1.1 million euro technical assistance grant, provided under the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) to support Belgrade city in better preparing and implementing the project, while the remaining share of a total 52 million euro in financing will be provided by the municipal budget, the bank noted.
"With its lending and advisory operations and in close cooperation with the European Commission, the EIB is continuing to contribute to the economic development and well-being of the people of the region and covering a wide range of strategic sectors, from connectivity to the environment," Miguel Morgado, Director of the EIB’s Adriatic Sea Lending Operations Department, said in the statement.
Since 2000, the EIB has lent more than 5.4 billion euro to Serbia, supporting transport and environmental infrastructure, health, education research and development and small end medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
($ = 0.898964 euro)