EIB loan for Budapest

The Hungarian capital Budapest is to get the first two instalments of loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for transport and roads, and for urban renewal and regeneration.

A loan of €200 million is the first tranche of an approved loan of €350 million to finance priority investment schemes in the areas of public transport and road networks in Budapest.

The second is worth €100 million, and represents the first part of the EIB loan of €200 million to support improvements in the fields of Budapest’s urban renewal and regeneration, energy efficiency increase and environmental protection.

László Baranyay, EIB vice president, said the funding of the Budapest Integrated Urban Development Strategy was “vital for the city’s continuing sustainable social and economic development, strengthening its competitiveness through the improvement of its attractiveness to investors, increasing the quality of life and upgrading the urban environment”.

The EIB loan of €200 million was said to provide an opportunity to finance the improvement of Budapest’s transport infrastructure, including the reconstruction of metro and suburban railway lines, tram and trolleybus infrastructure, road and bridge rehabilitation, and rolling stock-related investments to improve the quality of public transport services.

The EIB said the loan of €100 million supported the implementation of schemes in urban renewal and regeneration, energy efficiency and renewables, social urban regeneration and the environment – including waste, water, wastewater and environment protection. It said it also addressed issues connected to the economic development of the city.

The EIB said that the current loans represented a continuation of the successful and fruitful co-operation between the EIB and the Municipality of Budapest.

The EU bank has previously provided nine loans to the City of Budapest amounting to €731.50 million, to finance the rehabilitation and improvement of urban infrastructure in Hungary’s capital.