Drie stedelijke ontwikkelingsfondsen voor Portugal (en)

The European Investment Bank and the Government of Portugal today announced the creation of three Urban Development Funds (UDFs) to support urban regeneration in certain regions of Portugal. The operational contracts were signed in Lisbon this morning by representatives of the EIB and the respective fund managers in the presence of the Government of Portugal’s Minister of Economy and Employment, Àlvaro Santos Pereira and Assunção Cristas, Minister of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning.

The three Urban Development Funds signed today will be managed, respectively, by:

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  A consortium of Caixa Geral de Depósitos SA (CGD) and Instituto da Habitação e da Reabilitação Urbana IP (IHRU) for approximately EUR 51 million,
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  Banco BPI SA (BPI) for approximately EUR 64 million,
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  Turismo de Portugal IP (TdP) for approximately EUR 15 million.

The funds will be made available for urban projects that are included in an integrated plan for sustainable urban development in the relevant regions and are brought forward by way of loans, quasi-equity and/or equity.

The relevant Intervention domains are:

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  Urban rehabilitation and regeneration including urban infrastructure and facilities
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  regeneration;
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  Energy efficiency and renewable energy in urban areas;
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  Urban economic revitalisation especially in what regards small and medium enterprises (“SME”) or innovating companies;
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  Information and communication technology dissemination in urban areas, including broadband and wireless infrastructure.

These UDFs are set up in Portugal under an Agreement between the Government of Portugal and the EIB to create Portugal’s Jessica Holding Fund in the framework of the region’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) operational programme. This Agreement laid down the operational mechanism of the fund, endowed with EUR 130 million and managed by the EIB. The capital contributions came from the Regional Operational Programmes for Norte, Centro, Lisboa, Alentejo and Algarve and part of the national match funding has been provided by DGTF.

JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) is an initiative developed by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank together with the Council of Europe Development Bank that enables Member States to use part of their grants (the so-called structural funds) to make refundable investments in the urban environment.

The European Investment Bank is the long-term financing institution of the European Union (EU), working to further European objectives. The Bank’s financing is geared to well-defined European policies.