BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (KUNA) -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group announced Thursday that its total financing signed in 2022 for sustainable energy projects inside the European Union reached an unprecedented 17.06 billion euro (USD 19.3 billion).
Overall EIB Group (European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund) financing signed last year was 72.5 billion euro, (USD 79.6 billion).
"We delivered on our promises, we exceeded our targets, we put our money where our mouth is," EIB President Werner Hoyer said at the release of the Groupآ’s annual report in a press conference in Brussels today.
"The EU bank is deploying the full scale of its financial firepower to cushion the economic fallout from Putinآ’s unjustified aggression and lay the foundations for a sustainable recovery," he said.
The EIB offered immediate relief to Ukraine right after the outbreak of the war, disbursing 1.7 billion euro (USD 1.8) in funds last year to help finance emergency repairs to the countryآ’s infrastructure.
In addition to its support for Ukraine, EIB Global signed 9.1 billion euro (USD 9.9 billion) in new financing in 2022, bringing the total operations of the EIB arm for global partnerships launched a year ago to 10.8 billion euro (USD 11.8 billion).
Overall, the EIB Group said it is well on track to achieve its objective of supporting 1 trillion euro (USD 1 trillion) in green financing this decade, having already backed 222 billion euro (USD 243 billion) in investment over the past two years.
"At a time when the United States is rolling out the biggest green subsidy programme in history, it is imperative that Europe keeps up and stays the course, both for the sake of our planet and for safeguarding the competitiveness of our economies," Hoyer said.
"The EU bank will do its part to finance home-grown innovation that will lead us to net zero," he added.
The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its 27 Member States. (end) nk.mt