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City of Warsaw and EBRD agree to cooperate on municipal investment
A programme of co-operation in municipal investment was agreed today by the city of Warsaw and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The letter of intent signed by both parties covers the development of priority investments in municipal infrastructure – specifically urban transport, water supply and sewerage.
"The EBRD is strongly committed to working with the city of Warsaw to achieve its wide-ranging investment objectives," said Johan Bastin, Director of the EBRD’s Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Team. "In addition to exploring long-term financing opportunities, the Bank intends to assist the city in developing its investment strategy and in facilitating co-financing with commercial banks and the European Union. Poland is a key country for the EBRD in the field of municipal and environmental infrastructure investment."
The Mayor, Pawel Piskorski, said "We are delighted with the cooperation with the EBRD because the City is unable to cover the investments from its current resources, especially in respect of the huge back-log of investments. As in other European capital cities, we expect that the central government will play an important role in providing investment financing, which will be supplemented by EBRD funds."
"The EBRD has become one of the largest investors in Poland," said Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, who represents Poland on the EBRD’s Board of Directors. "I am delighted that the Bank now has the opportunity to invest in Warsaw’s municipal infrastructure through this excellent programme of co-operation between the EBRD and the city."
Through the programme, the city will refine and develop its strategic goals to make the best use of its financing capacity, to explore innovative financing structures and to optimise private sector involvement. The EBRD will also work with the city to develop a programme of measures to strengthen its creditworthiness through improved financial management and capital investment planning.
The investment programmes are structured in such a way that high priority investments of up to around EUR 100 million may be financed in the short term, while larger investments requiring more detailed planning and preparation would be developed in parallel.
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