The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure agreed to expand their cooperation on the development and financing of key green, sustainable transport projects in the country and Croatia’s green and digital transformation.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will enable the EIB and the ministry to work towards sharing knowledge and best practices, co-finance projects and programmes, deploy EIB-managed advisory services to help the ministry achieve its strategic goals and cooperate to increase the capacity of relevant counterparts to manage transport investments.
“Our agreement is a foundation upon which the EIB will expand its support for the modernisation, sustainable development, digitalisation and green transition of Croatia’s transport sector, a sector in which we have already invested some 1.2 billion euros,” said Teresa Czerwińska, Vice-President of the EIB in charge of operations in Croatia. “Our joint activities will provide safer, faster, more efficient and cleaner transport solutions for Croatians and in turn expand business opportunities and improve the quality of life. At the same time, it will accelerate Croatia’s post-earthquake and post-COVID-19 recovery.”
“Our long-standing cooperation with the EIB is currently perhaps the most significant for Croatia in the context of the help they provide in the preparation of projects,” added Oleg Butković, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. “One of those projects provided an extremely important road connection between the Croatian mainland and southern Dalmatia. A part of this project is the Pelješac Bridge, which we will officially open.”
The cooperation will focus on enabling investments in railway, maritime infrastructure, inland waterways, road safety, climate resilience, the use of innovative and digital technologies, urban mobility and multimodal nodes and roads and road transport. The EIB will also extend its support to the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and back key energy and climate initiatives such as the Croatian Transport Development Strategy (2017-2030).
