Central and Eastern Europe will get hundreds of new electric-vehicle charging stations thanks to a €35 million loan the European Investment Bank (EIB) is giving to network operator Eleport, the EIB said. Eleport will use the money to install more than 250 fast-charging hubs at major shopping and commercial centers across Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The company plans to finish the project by 2028.
Each station will have up to 12 charging plugs with power reaching 400 kilowatts per plug, letting drivers charge quickly while they shop or run errands. Eleport, a rapidly growing startup based in Tallinn, already operates more than 400 fast charging points across six countries and is building what it calls an “Electric Amber Road”—a network inspired by ancient trade routes connecting the Baltic and Adriatic coasts. Cross-border drivers will be able to use a single app for fast charging along the entire network.
The EIB loan advances EU goals to cut car pollution and promote regional development. Tailor-made financing structures allow the bank to support promising companies early in their growth by taking on higher credit risk through backing from the InvestEU programme.
“Scaling up fast-charging infrastructure is essential to accelerate the shift to electric mobility and reduce emissions from road transport,” said EIB Vice-President Karl Nehammer.
“This EIB loan is an important step in expanding reliable, high-quality charging infrastructure across Central and Eastern Europe,” said Eleport CEO Jakub Miler. “Our goal is for electric-vehicle drivers to be able to stop where they already need to be, plug in briefly and move on with their day.”
The project is classified by the EIB as 100 percent climate action and environmental sustainability, fully aligned with EU climate goals. The InvestEU programme, which backs the loan agreement, aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027, mobilizing funding for EU priorities like the green transition, competitiveness, innovation, and sustainable infrastructure.
