The European Investment Bank (EIB) will continue to invest in the social and economic development of North Macedonia, while supporting the faster economic recovery of the country’s economy and its backbone – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the main conclusion from the meeting that EIB President Werner Hoyer and Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova had with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. The EIB presented plans to boost support from Team Europe, expand cooperation, step up its activities in North Macedonia and support the European Commission’s rollout of its Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans.

The EU bank is ready to expand its successful cooperation with the Government of North Macedonia, contribute further to the competitiveness of the country’s economy, and support significant infrastructure projects and the transition towards a greener and more sustainable economic model. To date, the EIB has invested close to €970 million in 29 projects in North Macedonia, supporting key sectors of the economy – infrastructure, energy, transport and SMEs.

As part of the overall EU efforts under Team Europe to mitigate the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EIB mobilised over €1 billion for the economies of the Western Balkans in 2020 alone. These funds are part of the EIB’s €1.7 billion contribution to the Team Europe package of €3.3 billion announced by the European Commission at the Zagreb EU Western Balkans Summit in May 2020.