Europe Investment Bank loans Ag Ministry CZK 8B

The Ministry of Agriculture has received a loan of eight billion crowns from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to improve water management. Dušan Ondrejička from the EIB’s Press Department informed about this in a press release. The Ministry will use the money to finance water projects.

The project aims to provide flood protection for 47,000 people and give up to 24,000 people access to clean drinking water.

According to Ondřejička, this is the sixth loan that the Ministry has received from the EIB since 1999, bringing the total volume to 1.3 billion euros.

The government agreed to borrow from the EIB at the end of March. According to the then statement of the Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman (for the CSSD), the loan is to co-finance state budget expenditures for the implementation of water management programs in the years 2020 to 2025.

The Ministry plans to support repairs and construction of ponds to retain more water in the landscape or increase the share of households connected to the sewage system with a wastewater treatment plant.