CEB approves €874m in new loans
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has approved 13 new loans totalling €874 million. The financing will support healthcare costs, including COVID-19 vaccines, social infrastructure projects across Europe, and improved access to funding for MSMEs.
The projects include: In Croatia, a €200 million Programme Loan to the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) will develop and upgrade local and regional social infrastructure, enable access to finance for MSMEs, and support 2020 earthquakes’ recovery and reconstruction efforts. Specifically, the CEB loan is intended to help municipalities, cities, and counties undertake key investments in municipal infrastructure, particularly those to be co-financed by the EU, and to reconstruct and retrofit the infrastructure and buildings damaged by the earthquakes.
In Finland, an additional €60 million to an ongoing Public Sector Financing Facility to the City of Tampere will finance investments in municipal infrastructure. The investments will focus on daycare, schools, sports facilities and other municipal social infrastructure, for the benefit of Tampere’s 300,000 residents.
In Montenegro, a €30 million Programme Loan to the Investment and Development Fund will finance investments in public social infrastructure and services in 17 municipalities that are below the national development index average. The CEB loan will help rehabilitate water supply networks, local roads, public street lighting, local markets, and other similar public infrastructure. In addition, it will fund the purchase of essential municipal service equipment, such as vehicles for solid waste collection.
In Romania: a €23.3 million Public Sector Financing Facility to Sector 4 of the Municipality of Bucharest will upgrade mobility solutions by bringing into service a new metro station on the north-south (M2) metro line; enhancing access to public green spaces in a densely urbanised area; and providing better access to quality dental care and higher medical education at the Carol Davila University.
In Poland, a €150 million Programme Loan to Santander Leasing will enable access to lease finance for MSMEs, particularly for small enterprises and start-ups that have limited borrowing capacities.
