EIB invests in Plzen regeneration

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending CZK2 billion (approximately €73 million) to the Municipality of Plzen (West Bohemia) to implement priority urban regeneration schemes identified in the city’s 2004 Development Plan.

EIB funds, combined with EU Structural Funds, will help to implement important investments geared towards strengthening the city’s competitiveness and increasing the quality of life of Plzen’s citizens.

The loan will co-finance mostly small and medium-sized sub-projects that will improve, rehabilitate, upgrade and extend municipal infrastructure and facilities. Public transport, environmental protection, water distribution and waste water treatment, education and cultural heritage will be the main areas benefiting from EIB finance.

For example, the loan will support sub-projects supporting Plzen’s application regarding the selection of the European Capital of Culture in 2015. In particular the revitalisation of the city centre, further to the creation of the 'Struncovy Park' along the confluence of the two rivers, and the completion of the city’s water management system are of prime importance.  

This is the second loan provided by the Bank to the city of Plzen. The first €30 million loan signed in two contracts on 1st July 2005 and on 3 November 2008, part-financed sub-projects in the field of water and waste water management.

This announcement follows reports that many transport projects in the country are in danger of being cancelled due to a lack of funds. Construction companies have seen the value of public construction orders fall by as much as 32% in the third quarter of this year, and builders anticipate a 9 – 15% decline in construction output in 2009. Clearly, none of this is good news for the cement industry, so this investment by the EIB in the country’s infrastructure will prove to be a particularly positive thing.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/09122009/eib_invests_in_plzen_regeneration/