Brussels, 17/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a 60 million euro loan for the funding projects intended to protect the environment in Mersin, on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is a question of the construction of the first wastewater treatment plant (a full biological wastewater treatment plant, outfall pumping stations and deep-sea outlet). The loan, granted under the second Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Mandate, will benefit from an interest rate subsidy of up to 3% financed from the EU "MEDA" budgetary resources earmarked for environmental projects. The loan is being made available for 20 years to the Mersin Water and Sewerage Administration (MESIK). This project will complement the wastewater and effluent treatment systems of the neighbouring towns of Adana and Tarsus, already financed by the EIB.