EIB, Polish Development Fund sign cooperation deal

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Polish Development Fund (PFR) have signed an agreement on cooperation in areas such as environmental protection and climate change.

The deal will be valid for at least five years.

"The cooperation agreement concerns the co-financing of investments, mainly in the areas of sustainable environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation, improvement of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources," the EIB and the PFR reported on their websites on Tuesday.

"This is a very important agreement for the EIB, which will expand the possibilities of financing green projects," EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwinska was quoted as saying.

Increasing cooperation in these areas "will ensure greater competitiveness and enable a more dynamic development of the Polish economy," she added.

According to PFR President Pawel Borys, "one of the PFR's strategic activities is the provision of capital instruments to carry out energy transformation in Poland."

Borys added that, as part of the dedicated PFR Green Hub programme, the fund created a network of business and institutional partners with whom it could jointly develop the Polish renewable energy sources market.

"I am pleased that such a strong partner as the European Investment Bank has joined this group," he said.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances projects in four priority areas — infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).

In 2021, the EIB Group provided EUR 6.5 billion in financing to projects in Poland.

The Polish Development Fund is a group of financial and advisory institutions for entrepreneurs, local governments and private individuals investing in the country's sustainable social and economic development.