Up to CZK 11.5 billion will be provided from the EIB loan for the modernisation of railway hubs 7/11/2018|Press releasesThe government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Transportation about a loan from the European Investment Bank for the construction and modernisation of railways between 2019 and 2025. Up to CZK 11.5 billion can be drawn down. To be specific: the money can be for example spent on two sections Velim – Poříčany and Dětmarovice – Petrovice u Karviné – state border with Poland, the preparation of which is most advanced. "By using the EIB loan, we are preparing ourselves for the future funding of transport infrastructure. European funds, from which most biggest transportation projects have been paid, will decline in the future. By taking this loan, we will also gain experience with other possible funding methods. And that experience will come useful in the future," says the Transport Minister Dan Ťok. The aim was to get the consent of the government on the acceptance of a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) up to a maximum amount of CZK 11.5 billion. The money shall be used for the upgrade of selected railway corridors which belonged to the "Elimination of Selected Bottlenecks on Designated Corridors of the Main Network in the Czech Republic" project submitted to the so-called Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) blending call. This "blending" means that projects are funded by combining subsidies, the EIB loan and money from the national budget. It is the result of efforts of the European Commission to seek innovative funding models for transport infrastructure. Put simply, the European Commission provides subsidies to motivate us to take loans for accelerated funding transport infrastructure. The European Investment Bank is an international financial institution which shall primarily support development schemes in EU member states. Therefore, it provides better interest rates than other market alternatives. The Ministry of Finance will enter into the individual loan agreements and decide whether they are profitable. The same ministry will also guarantee Czech Republic's ability to repay the loans.