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EBRD finances municipal and environmental infrastructure investment programme in Croatia
To support Croatia in improving its municipal and environmental infrastructure, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a DM 105 million (ECU 55 million) loan to the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR).
"This municipal environmental infrastructure investment programme is the most important ever undertaken in Croatia," said Johan Bastin, Director of the EBRD's Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Team. "It is also the most important environmental investment ever financed by the EBRD. The programme will help the country move towards meeting European Union environmental standards. The EBRD's loan will establish a model for a viable system of credit financing of municipal infrastructure investment by strengthening the creditworthiness of municipal borrowers and by developing the capacity of the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development to appraise and manage municipal loans."
HBOR's President, Anton Kovacev, said: "The Municipal Environmental Infrastructure Investment Programme has been declared a national environmental priority by the Parliament of Croatia. The project will support Croatia's economic transition by improving essential municipal and environmental services which directly affect the living conditions of the population and which are critically needed for the development of quality tourism."
The loan will allow HBOR to provide loan financing to municipal water utilities for the extension and improvement of sewerage, waste-water treatment and water supply systems in a number of towns along the Adriatic coast, including Split, Solin, Trogir, Kastela and Pula. The investment programme will also address the problem of severe pollution in Kastela Bay and the sea off Pula and will restore the quality of bathing waters there. In the Kastela Bay and Split area, the programme will help improve the quality and availability of drinking water.
Besides the EBRD, the Government of Croatia, the relevant municipalities and foreign donors will contribute financing to the programme's total cost of DM 320 million. The World Bank is also expected to contribute.
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