EIB loans to Bulgaria top €1.5bn over five years

The European Investment Bank provided €1.5bn for Bulgaria economy over the past five years, including €103m in 2018 for a variety of projects. Additionally, the European Investment Fund backed eight Bulgarian projects worth a total of €114m. The biggest investment last year was €14m which went to Agria Group Holding's new port facility in Varna, on the Black sea coast. The municipality of Sofia received €22m for the construction of line 3 of the capital's metro. An additional €67m was made available to the country for use in the construcdtion of a new heat power plant for Sofia.
The EIF supported Bulgaria's SME sector with €78m funds in total. Currently, the IPA provides consultancy services for software investments and hardware development including the venture capital financing worth €30m. This year, the EIB has already signed off on a €20m loan to Raiffeisen Leasing, as this will support the bank's ability to support Bulgarian companies who need leasing financing for equipment, trucks and other vehicles.