EIB approves €17.4bn financing package including €800m for Cernavodă and Ukraine border upgrades

Overview

The EIB Group approved €17.4 billion in new financing targeted at strengthening Europe’s energy autonomy, competitiveness and strategic partnerships with Ukraine and partner countries.

Energy investments

The Boards committed €3.7 billion to projects that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and speed electrification, covering nuclear in Romania, new electricity networks in Belgium and Spain, wind farms in Germany and solar generation in France. A highlighted operation is an €800 million loan for the refurbishment and life extension of Cernavodă Unit 1, financing key component replacements and system upgrades to enable a new cycle of reliable and safe operation; the plant produces around 20% of Romania’s electricity.

Finance capacity and SMEs

To unlock additional lending capacity, the EIB Board doubled a pan‑European securitisation programme to €6 billion. The EIF approved a set of securitisation and guarantee transactions designed to expand banks’ capacity to finance new investments and support green and innovation projects under the EU savings and investments union.

Ukraine and global partnerships

The package includes financing for upgraded Ukrainian TEN‑T road border‑crossing points (terminals, customs equipment and digital systems) and support for businesses in Ukraine. It also approves strategic investments in partner countries — wind energy in Egypt, solar and grids in Tunisia and sustainable agriculture in Moldova — alongside various domestic EU projects in transport, health, culture, education and competitiveness.