The European Investment Bank will provide advisory support to Greece to help develop investment programmes intended to strengthen the resilience of essential services and infrastructure.
The cooperation will focus on helping Greek authorities identify investment priorities, prepare projects and develop approaches for building “resilient, sustainable and reliable” infrastructure systems, the EIB informed in a release on Wednesday.
Work will initially concentrate on the energy and water sectors, where the EIB said continuity of critical infrastructure and services is essential for citizens, businesses and the wider economy.
The initiative is linked to Greece’s efforts to strengthen the resilience of organisations that provide essential services under the European Critical Entities Resilience framework, a European Union system for improving the ability of key services to withstand disruptions.
Energy and water to be first focus areas
The bank will provide technical expertise through its EIB Advisory service to support the identification and prioritisation of resilience measures, the preparation of an investment pipeline and the development of implementation approaches aligned with national priorities and European standards.
The EIB said it will work with Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy and other stakeholders to assess investment needs, support project preparation and explore financing solutions for future investments.
Greece is working with EYDAP and EYATH, the main water and wastewater utilities serving Athens and Thessaloniki respectively, alongside municipalities across the country, Greece’s Environment and Energy Minister said.
More than 200 water-related projects with a total budget exceeding €600 million are part of efforts linked to a new National Water Strategy and reforms to water governance, the minister added.
“Ensuring the resilience of essential services and infrastructure is increasingly important in a changing environment,” EIB Vice-President Yannis Tsakiris declared.
