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€15 million to develop urban transport infrastructure in Sibiu
EBRD loan comes as city set to be 2007 European Capital of Culture
Romania’s picturesque city of Sibiu is borrowing €15 million from the EBRD to
help prepare transport infrastructure that will benefit business, tourists and
residents. The loan is very timely, as Sibiu prepares to be the European
Capital of Culture – a designation it will share with Luxembourg – in 2007.
Major urban regeneration in the city’s historic centre has recently been
undertaken. The EBRD loan will help improve roads and rehabilitate the Railway
Station Square, which will become the main gateway to the city. A further
component will finance architectural lighting for historic buildings.
Technical cooperation funds will be provided by Austria, Luxembourg and the
United States to help the city prepare and manage projects, and support the
commercialisation of its transport company, including how to promote greater
private-sector involvement in this sector. The project is designed to help
municipalities prepare and access future European funding for infrastructure.
For the past decade the EBRD has worked closely with local authorities to fund
investments in the water and wastewater sector. This latest loan builds on the
Bank’s relationship with Sibiu; last year the city’s water company received an
EBRD loan to co-finance ISPA investments. Thomas Maier, EBRD Director of
Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure, said the Bank is now looking to
develop the country’s urban transport sector. This is the EBRD’s second urban
transport project in Romania, and comes just two weeks after the first was
signed in Arad.
Located in central Romania, Sibiu benefits from its traditional ties with
Germany and foreign investment that is helping to support its already growing
economy, driven by industries ranging from the production of construction
materials, electronic components and automobile parts, to tourism. Mr Maier
added that Sibiu is a success story, which has been driven by the mayor and
his team.
Klaus Werner Johannis, Mayor of Sibiu, said the city’s strong economy is a
result of good local businesses and growing foreign investment, and to boost
this further, we need to improve local transport infrastructure. The EBRD has
a good reputation for working with local municipalities in Romania, and we
want to build on that to improve our city’s urban transport infrastructure, he
added.
The EBRD is the largest investor in Romania having committed around €2.5
billion in over 130 projects.
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