€250 million loan for Rural Development

On Thursday, the Finance Ministry and European Investment Bank (EIB) inked an agreement on the provision of an EIB framework loan for the Rural Development Programme worth €250 million, TASR learnt on the same day. The document was signed by Finance Minister Peter Kažimíron behalf of Slovakia and EIB vice-president Vazil Hudák. "We signed the framework agreement, which will be valid until the end of this programming period. It is tied to the operational programme carried out by the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, hence, primarily it will go to the agro sector," said Kažimír. He also said that EIB's offer is more advantageous than conditions afforded by international financial markets as the loan's interest equals below 1%. As Hudák said, the money will be invested into the support for the development of agriculture, modernisation of rural environment and the like. The current loan represents the second EIB operation aimed to support the financing of Rural Development Programme in Slovakia, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2014, EIB signed a loan worth €120 million to finance investments contributing towards reforesting, forests protection and the administration and modernisation of agriculture infrastructure in Slovak countryside.