European Investment Bank moves to resume activities in Türkiye

ISTANBUL

The European Investment Bank (EIB), known as the European Union’s financial arm and a pivotal financier of collaborative ventures, has initiated efforts to resume its operations in Türkiye after a five-year hiatus.

“The EIB has been invited by the EU Council and the European Commission to reassess its engagement with Türkiye,” an EIB spokesperson told Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency on Dec. 19.

Signaling the commencement of a process to reactivate its activities in Türkiye, the spokesperson remarked, “As suggested in the EU Council’s resolutions, this process has been launched in a phased, proportional and reversible manner for a potential reengagement with Türkiye.”

The spokesperson further emphasized that the EIB's prospective operations, in alignment with EU policies, would primarily focus on climate action, the green transition, post-earthquake recovery and migration-related initiatives.

Since the EIB Global began its operations in Türkiye in 1965, it has extended over 30 billion euros ($31.2 billion) in financing to the country.

The bank’s most recent undertaking was a 400 million euros loan agreement aimed at rehabilitating water and wastewater infrastructure in Turkish southern provinces affected by the earthquakes that occurred on Feb. 6, 2023.

Headquartered in Luxembourg, the EU’s bank had ceased its activities in Türkiye in 2019.

This suspension, along with various other measures impacting multiple facets of EU-Türkiye relations, was implemented during heightened tensions stemming from Türkiye’s hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Prior to this hiatus, the EIB had been disbursing 1–2 billion euros annually to Türkiye for diverse projects. In 2016 alone, the bank allocated over 2.1 billion euros to various Turkish initiatives. By 2019, however, lending had dwindled to approximately 117 million euros for previously approved projects.