Brussels, 30/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement for its first loan of EUR 60 million for rehabilitating and upgrading priority sections of the Croatian road network. The project concerns 26 sections of road over a length of 450 km, half of which are located on the Adriatic coastline. The loan to Hrvastske ceste d.o.o. (Croatian Roads Ltd, wholly owned by the Croatian state) is for up to 20 years. Together with cofinancing from Croatian Roads Ltd itself, and in parallel with financing provided by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to other sections of Croatian roads, the EIB loan is provided under the current mandate for Central and Eastern Europe, which was extended to Croatia earlier this year by the EU Council of Ministers.