EIB approves loan for reconstruction of four clinical centres in Serbia

Serbian Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic and President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Dario Scannapieco signed today in Trieste a financial agreement Clinical Centres/C, granting Serbia a EUR50 million loan, with a repayment period of 25 years, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement.

The Agreement Clinical Centres/C is the last of three financial agreements reached with the EIB to fund the reconstruction, modernisation, improvement, expansion and upgrade of four Clinical Centres – in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac.

The four-year grace period loan offers Serbia a possibility to choose between fixed or variable interest rates. The loan will be disbursed in five tranches tops, with a minimal tranche amounting to EUR10 million, except for the first one which is capped at EUR5 million.

The project Clinical Centres, whose total value is estimated at over EUR400 million, is funded by the EIB with EUR200 million, whereas the rest of the funding is secured by the Government of Serbia, the European Commission – CARDS programme, the World Bank and bilateral donors.

So far, the EIB has programmed EUR150 million and signed two financial agreements with Serbia : Clinical Centres/A (2006) and Clinical Centres/B (2008), worth EUR80 million and EUR70 million, respectively.