The government approved a loan from the EIB for the development of transport infrastructure13/7/2023|Press releasesThe loan from the European Investment Bank will provide up to CZK 24 billion for co-financing railway construction this year. Thanks to obtaining the alternative source of finance, the Ministry of Transport, together with the Ministry of Finance, will hereby fill the record budget of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure with CZK 150.9 billion. "The necessary investments for the completion and modernisation of the railway and motorway infrastructure exceed the possibilities of the state budget, so we chose to get a loan from the European Investment Bank, with which we will cooperate in the long term also in the preparation of the construction of the Czech high-speed rail," says transport minister Martin Kupka. In addition to the approved loan from the European Investment Bank, the government also agreed to the subsequent provision of a loan to the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure by the Ministry of Finance from loans or obtained otherwise in the total amount of up to CZK 30.7 billion. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance have fulfilled the government's task from last year to add funds from alternative sources to this year's budget for transport construction. The EIB loan can provide annual savings of more than CZK 100 million compared to the usual type of financing through government bonds. "The terms of the approved loan, as negotiated, are more favourable compared to standard government debt instruments. This will enable us to effectively obtain sufficient funds for the digitisation and automation of railway transport and for the electrification of railway lines," says finance minister Zbyněk Stanjura. Record budget for better railways and new motorways This year's budget for transport construction reaches a record amount of CZK 150.9 billion. As provided in the memorandum concluded last November, EIB financing will be used for co-financing and complementing the European Union resources available under the Next Generation EURecovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), Operational Programme Transport 2021-2027 and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). On the railway this will concerns the financing of projects such as the modernisation of the Pardubice railway node, including the repair of the station building, the modernisation of the line Praha-Bubny – Praha-Výstaviště, the optimisation of line sections Čelákovice – Mstětice – Praha-Vysočany, the optimisation of the line Karlštejn – Beroun and the reconstruction of the station Praha-Smíchov, the repair of the building and underpasses at the Prague Main Station an d the double-tracking of the line on the section Branický most – Praha-Krč – Spořilov. Sufficient funds are also secured for this year for the ongoing extension of the Czech motorway network. Motorways that are at an advanced stage of progress include 28.4 kilometres of the D3 motorway in South Bohemia from Úsilný through Hodějovice, Třebonín to Kaplice, which will be followed this year by two construction projects through Nažidla to the state border in Dolní Dvořiště in the length of 15.5 km. A total of six sections of the D55 motorway with a total length of 29.5 kilometres in the Zlín, South Moravia and Olomouc regions are under construction in Moravia. The extension to the D4 motorway in Písek as a PPP project with a total length of 32 kilometres also continues. This year the construction of another 21.2 km of the D11 motorway to the Polish border will start and the construction of the D35 motorway as an alternative link between Bohemia and Moravia and one section of the D6 motorway in Karlovy Vary will continue. There are currently 282.4 kilometres of motorways and category I roads under construction: 181.6 kilometres of new motorways and 100.8 kilometres of national roads.