EIB rolls into town

Speaking at the launch of the EIB's office, Danuta Huebner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, said: "The EIB has already invested some zł.13 billion in Poland. Now the fact that it has opened a new office in Warsaw means it wants to invest more in Poland. What is important is that the funds from the bank can also complement the 15-percent share the country has to bring in when using structural funds."

The Warsaw regional office is the first of three regional JASPERS offices to be established in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Offices in Vienna and Bucharest are scheduled to open in the coming months.

The JASPERS regional office in Warsaw will accommodate experts from different disciplines - engineers, economists and financial specialists together with support staff. They will help the authorities in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania prepare major investment projects which will be supported by EU funds. These projects will be worth more than EUR 300 (zł.1,140) billion in total.

"By creating the JASPERS instrument, and by pooling the resources and expertise of the European Commission, the EIB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD], we are convinced that we can help the authorities to develop major projects of the highest quality," Huebner added.

"The 23 projects that have been selected by the Polish government are good and I believe the Polish government has made the right decision to concentrate on more complex projects," said EIB president Philippe Maystadt.

The European Commission, the EIB and the EBRD are also preparing two other programs, Jessica and Jeremy, which will focus on municipal projects and helping SMEs.