Brussels, 03/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 2 September, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ilbank signed a grant agreement for €8.5 million. The agreement, signed by the EIB as manager of the Municipal Finance Facility, will allow Ilbank and its municipal customers to benefit from grants of the European Commission - grants which aim to develop bank lending to municipalities in Turkey.
The “grants” component will be combined with the €150 million EIB loan facility already in place with Ilbank for the financing of municipal investment schemes in the water, waste water and solid waste sector.
The grants will particularly serve to reinforce the institutional capacity of Ilbank and its in-house project screening capacity, with the aim of closing the gap between the national and the European Union environmental and tendering requirements. Additionally, the grants will be used to cover the project preparation cost and related technical studies - which will improve the affordability of the municipalities' investments to preserve the environment. (OL/transl.fl)