EIB Plans to More Than Double Investments in Bulgaria to 250 mln Euro in 2019
The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to more than double its investments in Bulgaria in 2019 - to 250 million euro ($283 million), keeping its focus on infrastructure and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the bank's vice president Vazil Hudak said on Friday.
In 2018, the EIB provided 103 million euro of financing for Bulgaria, including a 22 million euro loan to the Sofia municipality for expansion of the city's underground railway network and 67 million euro for a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant running on refuse-derived fuel.The EIB will continue to actively support SMEs and midcaps in Bulgaria, working closely with the local units of lenders like Raiffeisenbank and Piraeus Bank, Hudak told a news conference in Sofia.Prior to the news conference, the EIB signed an 18 million euro loan agreement with Software Group, supported by the Juncker Plan – the EIB’s first venture debt operation in Bulgaria. Software Group is a global technology company helping financial service providers digitise their business and successfully go through the process of digital transformation. Earlier on Friday, the bank signed a 20 million euro credit line with Raiffeisen Leasing to back investmements in SMEs, the lender said in a press release. The loan agreement, representing the second tranche of a 50 million euro loan, will finance projects by some 300 SMEs, supporting at least 8,000 jobs, EIB added.