Eurobank is already receiving proposals for the financing of projects in the Regions of Mainland Greece and the Peloponnese in the context the JESSICA initiative.
The proposal submission procedure has been underway since mid-May, when Eurobank, in its capacity as the Urban Development Fund for these two Regions under the JESSICA initiative, issued a call for proposals to potential beneficiaries. Many interested parties have contacted the Bank, while quite a few have already submitted initial proposals and have taken steps to ensure that the relevant projects reach maturity.
JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) is an initiative of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB), in collaboration with the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). It is a new means for utilizing structural fund resources for the support of urban development plans. It is particular in that it seeks to mobilize, through the extension of repayable forms of funding (e.g. loans), additional funds for financing integrated urban development plans (such as urban infrastructure including transport, water, sewage and waste management, the restoration of buildings, the redevelopment of brownfield sites, the creation of business parks, university buildings including medical, biotech and other specialised facilities, energy efficiency improvements etc.).
More than €40 million will be invested in the Region of Mainland Greece. Apart from the above resources, the projects that will be eligible for funding will have to raise additional funds of at least €17 million through private sources (own contribution, bank loans, contribution of property). €28 million will be invested in the Region of the Peloponnese. Apart from the above resources, the project implementation bodies that will be eligible for funding will have to raise additional funds of at least €12 million through private sources (own contribution, bank loans, contribution of property).
Proposals may be submitted by public entities (Local Government Organizations and their enterprises, Ministries, legal persons governed by public law, etc.) or legal persons governed by private law or other public-private partnership schemes or special purpose entities or other forms of public-private sector partnerships, in accordance with the provisions of the call.
The projects will have to be included in Integrated Urban Development Plans or other developmental and spatial planning frameworks, approved by a public entity, and will have to be compatible with the guidelines of the corresponding Regional Programs of the NSRF. According to the specifications of the JESSICA initiative, these projects must definitely generate income, albeit lower than that that would allow them to be independently viable. On the contrary, the purpose is to support their viability through the favourable financing terms offered by JESSICA.
Interested parties can access the texts of the relevant calls for the submission of proposals at the following websites:
-for the Region of Mainland Greece www.eurobank.gr/corporatebanking/Jessica/StereaEllada
and
-for the Region of the Peloponnese
www.eurobank.gr/corporatebanking/Jessica/Peloponnisos
Eurobank's participation in the JESSICA Program is part of the Bank's systematic involvement in the field of Local Government, a field that the Bank has been supporting for quite a few years now through a wide range of banking products. At the same time, by participating in JESSICA, Eurobank consistently continues to support programs and initiatives which, through the use of NSRF funds, seek to mobilize additional banking and private funds in order to enhance entrepreneurship and in a broader sense, the development of economic activity in Greece.
www.eurobank.gr/corporatebanking/Jessica