European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank (WB) announced Thursday a new Action Plan for Central and Eastern Europe, a plan that includes commitments worth over €30 billion for the period 2013-2014, according to AFP.
Developed as a part of the “Vienna Initiative”, this action plan will support recovery and growth in Central and Eastern Europe, “is a direct response to the continuing impact of problems in the euro area economies in emerging Europe,” announced the three international financial institutions in a joint statement.
EIB is committed to providing support of at least €20 billion which will consist of long term loans granted mainly to small and medium enterprises, renewable energy projects and energy efficiency improvement, innovation and convergence. “I believe that each of our institutions, in its domain of expertise can contribute to sustainable growth in Central and South-Eastern Europe”, said EIB President Werner Hoyer.
Another approximately €6.5 billion would be provided by the institutions of the World Bank. “Economic and financial crisis in Europe continues to threaten economic growth and employment in Central and South-Eastern Europe. We support cooperation with the EIB and EBRD to help these countries cope with the crisis in the euro area,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
EBRD also expected to provide support of 4€ billion in loans and trade financing. “While the world’s attention is directed to the problems of Western Europe, emerging Europe’s legitimate needs should not be neglected. New EU member states and candidate countries suffer from problems that have not been created by them,” said EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti.
Of this support will benefit Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Each of the three international financial institutions will focus on a specific group of countries, depending on their mandate and their strategies for these countries.
The new initiative comes after a first plan launched in 2009-2010, when international financial institutions contributed €24.5 billion to help the countries of Central and Eastern Europe face the economic crisis.
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