The European Investment Bank will finance USD 104 M for the modernization of public and urban transport
The modernization of Line D of Buenos Aires subways will increase the frequency of its service and will benefit 577,000 users per day
The Argentine Ministry of Treasury and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a Guarantee Agreement for the USD 104-million loan with sovereign guarantee for the implementation of the Project to modernize Line D of the subway network of the City of Buenos Aires, aimed at mitigating the current metropolitan mobility issue.
The total investment in the first stage will be USD 264.75 million (USD 160.75 million contributed by SBASE) and it will be aimed at the implementation of a new management system for the circulation of trains, the readjustment of the power system and improvements in the accessibility, signaling and traffic in the stations.
The meeting, at which the subscribed original documents were delivered, was attended by the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations of the Ministry of Treasury, Martín Soto; the director of operations with Global Partners of the EIB, María Shaw-Barragan; and the deputy adviser of Operations in Latin America and the Caribbean of the EIB, Susan Antz. The parties addressed the importance of this first Sovereign Guarantee Agreement for the Government of the City of Buenos Aires as a demonstration of support for the joint administration of transport and for the diversification of the investment sectors, fostered by the European financing.
The EIB has become a strategic partner for Argentina for the development of investment projects in energy, water and sanitation, management of urban waste, SMEs and transport, among other sectors. The closing of this operation is part of the current portfolio of ongoing projects with the Bank for a total of USD 195 million. The programs include the following: “Financial support for SMEs”, “Comprehensive management of solid urban waste (GIRSU Jujuy)”, “Drinking water and sanitation for the metropolitan area of the City of Buenos Aires (AYSA)”, among others. All of them are organized under a co-financing scheme with important international credit organizations.