De EIB steunt de bouw van het nieuwe ziekenhuis in Wenen met 300 miljoen euro (en)

PRESS RELEASE

BEI/10/116

Vienna/Luxembourg, 2 July 2010

The European Investment Bank (EIB i) is lending EUR 300 million to co-finance the construction of a new 800 bed hospital in the north of Vienna, the Capital of Austria. This project will be the cornerstone of a balanced distribution of medical services within the City.

The EIB funds will contribute to the construction of a new hospital in the north of Vienna, where currently only 3 beds per 1 000 residents are available, compared to about 9 beds per 1 000 residents in the western districts of the City. The project will enable the transfer of existing hospital services located in historical buildings, which cannot be easily adapted to the current needs, to a single modern building. This will allow patients to benefit from modern facilities and high quality therapeutic environment for healthcare delivery.

Mr. Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen, EIB Vice-President responsible inter alia for lending in Austria, commented: “I welcome very much this new project, designed to become a centre of healthcare excellence. The concentration on one site of medical services currently spread over six hospitals in Vienna will improve the delivery of more efficient and integrated healthcare services to the population. The EIB has a long record of financing of medical facilities in Austria, which contributes to create a more sustainable society and is therefore one of our lending priorities”.

The new hospital will be located in the 21st Vienna District - Floridsdorf on the area of an unused Austrian Railway workshop. The new facility will provide 209 000 m² gross floor area, out of which 72% will be assigned to the core medical services, some 12% will be used by supporting services like a kindergarden, shops, offices and external service providers and about approx. 16% will serve for underground and multi storey parking.

The City of Vienna, through Wiener Krankenanstaltverbund - the department of the municipality in charge of the healthcare institutions owned by the City, is the project promoter and final beneficiary of the EIB loan.

The current loan is a continuation of the successful cooperation between the EIB and the City of Vienna. Before, the Bank has signed six loan contracts amounting to EUR 573 million with the City of Vienna as a borrower. These loans have co-financed projects related to the modernization and improved energy efficiency of Vienna’s social housing stock.

Note to editors:

The EIB, the European Union’s long-term financing institution, finances economically viable investment projects that contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States.

The EIB increased its activities in Austria significantly during the last years (2007: EUR 1.07 billion, 2008: EUR 1.32 billion) as part of an answer to the financial crisis. Loan signatures in Austria amounted to a record level of EUR 1.93 billion in 2009. Within the period 2007-2009, some 7% of EIB loans in Austria supported projects in the area of health and education. In the past, the EIB co-financed health care projects in Austria like LKH Klagenfurt, Mutter und Kind Zentrum Linz, Hospitals in Styria, etc.

Press contacts:

For further details, please contact Mr Dušan Ondrejicka, (d.ondrejicka@eib.org,

tel.: +352-4379-83334) or visit the EIB’s website: (http://www.eib.org).