The European Union has been convincingly the largest donor, trade partner and investor in Serbia for a long time, points out the head of the European Union delegation in our country, Sam Fabrizi.
On the occasion of the arrival of the American development financial corporation DFC in Serbia and the announcement of new projects important for Serbia and the region, Fabrizi believes that it is not up to him to comment on the announced investments, among other things, because details or figures are not yet available.
“What I can say is that the EU has long been the largest donor, trading partner and investor in Serbia in particular, but also in the entire Western Balkans region,” Fabrizi told Tanjug, adding that since the start of the 2007 accession phase, Serbia the EU received 4.17 billion euros in grants from taxpayers.
That, he says, is 300 million euros of annual aid directly for Serbia, plus aid through regional programs.
“This figure is important in itself: Serbia is among the first countries in the world in terms of the amount of aid it receives from the EU,” he pointed out to Fabrizi, emphasizing the following as key:
First, what is 4.17 billion euros are grants, ie non-refundable funds, which means that Serbia never has to return them.
Second, according to Fabrizi, EU grants are in many cases, especially in infrastructure, combined with favorable loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s credit bank.
“The conditions for EIB loans for Serbia are the most competitive because they are the same as for EU member states: internationally they are the cheapest – because they are supported by the EIB’s global financial ranking – with the longest repayment period and the longest grace period,” explains Fabrizi.
As a third key piece of information, Fabrizi states that since 2009, the EU has focused a special focus on infrastructure in Serbia and the Western Balkans region, especially in the field of transport, energy and the environment.
“The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) is an EU funding instrument. The financial system used combines EU grants with soft loans from the EU – through the European Investment Bank – and leverage funding from other leading international financial institutions, such as the EBRD, the Council of Europe Development Bank and KfW. The EU’s total investment portfolio through WBIF should encourage more than 20 billion euros of public investment in the Western Balkans,” explains Fabrizi.
He draws attention to the fact that with this instrument, Serbia will benefit from the complete cycle of the project: studies of previous justification, feasibility and environmental impact, preliminary design, main design, technical documentation, all the way to the works themselves.
Fabrizi points out that Serbia benefits from 39 projects within the WBIF worth over 210 million euros, which will encourage investments of 5.4 billion euros, and as an example he cites transport: -construction of the Corridor X road, which was completed in 2019; “Peace Highway”; Modernization of the railway Nis – Dimitrovgrad.
The EU has so far provided more than 74 million euros in grants
The EU has so far provided more than 74 million euros in grants for these projects. These funds are combined with a loan from the EIB of 134 million euros under very favorable conditions (maturity 25 years; grace period 5 years; interest rate 0.8-1.2 percent without commission on borrowed funds, without other costs).
As another example of a WBIF project, Fabrizi points out in the field of energy several sections of the Trans-Balkan electricity transmission corridor, such as the 400 kV transmission line between Kraljevo and Kragujevac, which received a 6m-euro grant from the EU, combined with a loan of 14 million euros of a favorable loan from KfW.
He says that all figures will be announced in it and that it will be a significant package, and predicts that it will be aimed at strengthening connections in the field of energy, transport, the green agenda, as well as including the region in the EU digital agenda and supporting reform efforts bring the Western Balkans closer to the European Union.
“This is the result of the hard work of the Commission, and especially of Commissioner Varhelji, who has worked closely with all prime ministers in the region in recent months. They share a vision of joint projects that will drive a dynamic medium-term recovery, create new jobs and significantly increase trade flows within the Western Balkans, as well as with the EU,” Fabrizi said.
He states that the financial strength of that package will be a combination of: grants from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III (2021-27), which is expected to be adopted by the European Union soon and to be larger than the previous ones (IPA I and IPA II); then preferred investments from the financial institutions of Team Europe, such as the European Investment Bank; and access to the European Fund for Sustainable Development – the World Investment Fund.
“The European Union and Serbia have long ago joined forces to modernize and develop the country. Our commitment is solid, with fully established costs and has a long-term goal. Accession is the ultimate goal and is part of a broader EU policy for the Western Balkans. The new economic-investment plan will be an instrument that will encourage the strong economic potential of the region and enhance economic and trade cooperation,” concluded Fabrizi, Nova reports.
