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EIB expected to finance Azerbaijani projects within ESF

24 May 2011 10:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ahmad Yusifzada - APA-ECONOMICS. The European Investment Bank (EIB) can finance the projects in Azerbaijan in the framework of the Facility for Energy Sustainability and Security of Supply (ESF), Senior Press Officer at the European Investment Bank DuÅ¡an OndrejiÄka told APA by e- mail.

EIB finances projects in the Eastern Partner Countries, including Azerbaijan, on the basis of an EU Council and Parliament mandate of EUR 3.7 billion for the period 2007-2013. The Bank supports projects in this regard that are of significant interest to the EU and the countries concerned in transport, energy, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure. Priority is given to projects on extended major Trans European Network axes, projects with cross-border implications for one or more Member States and major projects favoring regional integration through increased connectivity.

In these countries, the EIB can support indirectly, through partner financing institutions, smaller investments with total costs up to EUR 25 million promoted by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

â€œIn addition to the mentioned mandate, the Bank can finance in Azerbaijan projects in the framework of the Facility for Energy Sustainability and Security of Supply (ESF), a multiannual EUR 4.5 billion facility aiming to reinforce the EIBâ€™s contribution to renewable energy and energy efficiency in non-member countriesâ€, OndrejiÄka said.

The EIB also established the Eastern Partners Facility for up to EUR 1,500 million from the Bankâ€™s own resources in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, with a ceiling of EUR 500 million for projects financed in Russia. In this context, the EIB is extending loans and/or guarantees for EU investments, notably from European corporates, essentially under investment-grade structures in line with the EIBâ€™s usual criteria. Indirect equity investments in infrastructure funds of EU interest are also eligible under this facility.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Unionâ€™s financing institution. Its shareholders are the 27 Member States of the Union, which have jointly subscribed its capital. The EIBâ€™s Board of Governors is composed of the Finance Ministers of these States. The EIBâ€™s role is to provide long-term finance in support of investment projects.

In 2010, some 88% of the total EIB financing of EUR 72 billion went to projects in the EU.

Outside the EU, the EIB is active in over 150 countries (the pre-accession countries of South-East Europe, the Mediterranean partner countries, the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, Asia and Latin America, Central Asia, Russia and other neighbours to the East), working to implement the financial pillar of EU external cooperation and development policies (private sector development, infrastructure development, security of energy supply, and environmental sustainability).