Prof Teresa Czerwinska, the EIB’s vice president, said Poland was the first EU member state to benefit from the EIB's Ukraine Solidarity Package.
PETER KLAUNZER/PAP/EPA

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved EUR 2 billion in debt financing for Poland to help it cope with influx of refugees from Ukraine.

Prof Teresa Czerwinska, the EIB’s vice president, told PAP on Wednesday that it would be the first allocation from a EUR 4-billion EIB aid programme for EU member states affected by the migration crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

“These funds will enable access to rapid financing of medical infrastructure related to the acceptance and integration of refugees,” she said.

Czerwinska went on to say the EIB is offering long-term financing on preferential terms, and was prepared to finance projects to the maximum extent.

“The bank will be able to finance up to 100 percent of a project’s value,” she explained. “This is an exception to the rules applied in the EIB, under which the bank finances 50 percent of a project’s value.”

Czerwinska said Poland was the first EU member state to benefit from the EIB’s Ukraine Solidarity Package.

She added that last year, the EIB had financed projects in Poland to the value of EUR 6.5 billion, a record amount for the country, and hoped to grant a similar amount this year.