The European Investment Bank (EIB) continues to support the development of water supply and sewers systems in Serbia with a new grant worth EUR 10 m. The grant to local municipalities in Serbia will improve access to drinking water, sanitation and living conditions for 600,000 people and contribute towards reduced pollution across the country.
The grant is a donation of eight EU member states, channelled to Serbia through EIB`s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) and Municipal Infrastructure Resilience Framework. It is the biggest grant allocated under the ERI in the Western Balkans and the first ever ERI-supported activity in Serbia.
This activity is a part of a EUR 80 m investment in Serbian water supply and sewers, financed also by a EUR 40 million loan signed in May 2019; the remaining part of the investment will be provided by the State and municipal budgets.
EIB Director for Croatia, Italy, Malta, and Western Balkans Miguel Morgado said: As the Bank of the European Union, the EIB has been investing in the Western Balkans for over 40 years, bringing its expertise, the financing instruments and the commitment to generating impact and to addressing long-term needs in critical infrastructure as well as to support small and medium sized ventures. Only in the last 10 years, EIB provided more than EUR 8 bn to finance to projects in the region of which almost half of this amount in Serbia. The grant will help the relevant investments in Republic of Serbia to be more affordable and sustainable, thanks to our donors to the Economic Resilience Initiative”.
EIB representatives signed another ERI-enabled technical assistance grant with Serbia worth EUR 2.7 m to support the development of inland waterway network on the country`s largest rivers – the Danube and Sava rivers. This grant was signed with Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic.
Original source: EIB
Published on 12 July 2019
