EIB loan for Hungary

A loan of €140 million is to be made by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help with the modernisation of Hungary’s roads.

This is the first tranche of the approved €500 million loan to finance the modernisation of priority sections of Hungary’s road network in line with the Hungarian government’s National Transport Infrastructure Development Strategy.

László Baranyay, EIB vice president responsible for lending in Central Europe, said, “The EIB loan will support, together with the contribution from Hungary’s resources, investments in modernising the road network totalling an estimated €1.2 billion.”

He said the focus was on infrastructure as a crucial factor in improving Hungary’s accessibility and connectivity, thereby “enhancing the country’s competitiveness and the quality of life of its citizens, by providing safer and more fluid transport, meeting the increased demand”.

The EIB funds will support sub-projects ranging from the construction of new roads to the rehabilitation of existing roads. This is designed to help remove regional bottlenecks, and therefore to improve links with the strategic, mostly trans-European transport corridors, while upgrading the existing road network.