I am delighted to welcome Mr Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and his colleagues to Cyprus.
During our meeting, we had the opportunity to discuss the current economic situation regarding the geopolitical developments in Ukraine. I welcome the EIB's support to Cyprus to mitigate the economic consequences of the recent geopolitical developments and the course of the pandemic.
We also discussed the EIB's immediate response to the war in Ukraine and its investment support to reduce the economic impact on Ukraine and its neighbouring countries and expressed our appreciation for the EIB's support.
We had a fruitful discussion on Cyprus - EIB cooperation and expressed our appreciation to the EIB staff for helping Cyprus to combat the economic impact of COVID-19, enabling us to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic. As a result of close cooperation with EIB services, in 2021 Cyprus has consistently maintained its first place among European countries in terms of EIB financing as a percentage of GDP, with an increase of 24% compared to last year, which proves that the EIB is a committed and reliable partner and has supported our country's development in times of crisis. It is worth noting that almost half of the EIB's exposure in Cyprus was approved after the 2013 financial crisis.
I would like once again to express our appreciation to the President for the EIB Group's strong commitment to Cyprus, both through the Bank and through its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund. As I stated last month, during the visit of EIB Vice-President Ms Pavlova, the EIB's activity in Cyprus, according to the 2021 results, amounted to EUR 303 million for both public and private sector investments in Cyprus.
- EUR 100 million under CYPEF II, a risk-sharing instrument aimed at supporting local SMEs and MidCaps in these difficult times.
- EUR 112 million, to support key public sector transport infrastructure projects. The amount was increased to include the investment for the installation of road safety cameras, a necessary project that has been a demand of society for more than a decade.
- EUR 15 million business debt financing with Hellas Direct, a private technology company providing e-insurance services in Greece and Cyprus, signed in June 2021;
- EUR 6 million to Alpha Bank to support small-scale investments in renewable energy ("RE") and energy efficiency ("EE") and small and medium-sized enterprise ("SME") investments leading to CO2 emission reductions and energy savings under the Cyprus RE and EE Small Investments Finance Contract.
- EUR 70 million under the European Guarantee Fund (support through ETE-ETE).
We also had the opportunity to discuss new and additional investments under consideration in key sectors of the economy, which include new long-term financing to help SMEs and MidCaps overcome recent economic challenges, urban infrastructure projects, innovation projects and renewable energy projects. In this context, I welcome the recent agreement with the European Investment Fund on the Cyprus Equity Fund, the country's first publicly backed equity fund.
We look forward to further strengthening our cooperation with the EIB in the coming years.
Thank you.
(MGS/SX)
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