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Funds from joint EBRD-EU initiative poised to flow to Poland's dairy sector
The finishing touches were put today on a €32 million facility developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Commission to support Poland's dairy sector. In his first visit to Poland as President of the EBRD, Jean Lemierre signed agreements with Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK) and Rabobank Polska to join the programme, in which Bank Slaski became a participant earlier this year. Within a matter of weeks the three banks will begin to on-lend the money to help modernise 10 to 15 dairies and improve the quality of milk products.
"The Polish government faces the major challenge of restructuring one of its biggest sectors - agriculture," Mr Lemierre said after the signing ceremony in Warsaw. "This facility will help the dairy sector lift its quality standards to EU level, which will help with both the transition process and EU accession."
"Compliance with European directives is an important goal of the dairy industry in Poland," added Bruno Dethomas, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission. "The Phare grant combined with the loans from the EBRD will facilitate this process."
The facility consists of a €24 million EBRD loan and a €8 million EU grant. The three participating banks will disburse to those dairy companies and farms that present investment projects aimed at improving milk quality in the whole of the milk supply chain, from farm to factory. Eligible projects will receive a grant from Phare for 25 per cent of the investment cost, and the rest will be financed by loans from the participating banks.
Agreement with the final two banks was only one aspect of finalising the programme. Also today, Poland's Central Finance and Contract Unit (CFCU) and the Agency for the Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA) signed an agreement with the three participating banks regarding the procedures for administrating the €8 million EU Phare grant.
The Phare programme is the European Union's assistance programme to help Poland and other candidate countries prepare for EU membership.
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