The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Polish Ministry of Finance have agreed on a financial support programme to cope with the consequences of coronavirus.
The EU bank will lend €650 million to help the Polish government cover expenses and investments related to the ongoing pandemic.
The aim is to strengthen Poland’s emergency response system for the COVID-19 crisis as well as increase its mid and long-term pandemic preparedness. The EIB financing targets schemes in the health and civil protection sectors, which are under the greatest stress.
Healthcare projects can include the purchase and supply of medical and non-medical equipment, the reconfiguration of healthcare facilities and services, drug supply and production, as well as the co-financing of COVID-19 research.
Civil protection programmes might involve infrastructure and equipment, including for communication and awareness-raising campaigns, hygiene and disinfection measures, examinations, screening, quarantining and other official measures imposed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
The EIB and the Ministry of Finance also agreed that the Bank would finance eligible expenditures in full rather than the standard maximum of 50% of project costs applied to most Bank-approved projects.
This financing is made possible by repurposing the last tranche of a €1.35 billion Structural Programme Loan (SPL) granted to Poland under the EU programming period 2014-2020.
SPLs are part of the financing instruments the EIB uses to supplement the structural and investment funds allocated to EU countries in the EU budget. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the Polish government and the EIB have agreed to dedicate the unused part of the current SPL to co-financing the country’s response to the pandemic. ■
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