European Investment Bank Group Activity Report 2022

ENERGY SECURITY

“The energy crisis accelerates the need for Europe to transition to alternative renewable 
energy sources and to become more energy efficient. This dual objective is the essence of 
REPowerEU and the EIB will have a key role to play in its delivery. For the EIB’s advisory services, 
it also means identifying and helping to bring new technologies to market, as well as helping 
governments make smarter use of their public funding resources, leveraging more private 
investment where possible. ”
Frank Lee, head of climate and social finance advisory services, EIB
“Since its creation the EIB has been a key financier of critical energy infrastructure. The current 
situation reaffirms the strategic importance of energy and the importance of having diverse 
supplies. The EIB has stepped up its lending for energy projects — including for energy efficiency, 
renewables, district heating and connecting electricity networks domestically and internationally 
— both in the European Union and around the world. ”
Sanjoy Rajan, head of energy security, EIB

Energy is a security issue and decarbonisation is a 
matter of strategic autonomy. Russia’s invasion of 
Ukraine and its use of energy exports as a weapon 
fundamentally change the geopolitics and economics 
of energy in Europe. It’s also imperative to cut carbon 
emissions to mitigate climate change. Investment in 
energy efficiency and renewable power generation is 
the ideal solution to both problems.
We support Europe’s need for a rapid green energy 
transition by investing in energy efficiency and 
renewable power projects, and by promoting 
innovation and new technologies. 

FOR THE LONG HAUL

The European Investment Bank backs hundreds of projects essential to 
Ukrainian people’s lives, disbursing money for these even as the war 
continues

When Violaine Silvestro von Kameke explains that her main job involves investing in dozens of 
cities in Ukraine during the war, people are surprised, to say the least. “People think the war has 
stopped our activity in Ukraine,” says the senior loan officer at the European Investment Bank. “But we 
are disbursing a lot of money in Ukraine and working on many complex projects there. We are very 
active.”
The European Investment Bank relocated its employees from Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 
February 2022. But at the same time it dramatically increased its assistance to the country, which the 
government estimates will need about €765 billion over the next ten years to recover from the 
Russian invasion. 
The European Investment Bank approved two major funding packages for Ukraine during the war: a first 
package of €668 million shortly after the war began to help the government pay for urgent needs; and a 
second package of €1.59 billion to repair damaged infrastructure and resume critical projects, signed in 
July 2022. A little more than €1 billion from this package has been disbursed. 
Other EIB assistance in 2022 included €2.5 million in donations from the EIB Institute, the EU bank’s social 
and cultural arm, and nearly €18 million in grants from the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust 
Fund to care for about 700 000 people who fled their homes. This fund is backed by Austria, France, 
Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
In addition, the Bank signed a memorandum with Ukraine calling for more investment in Kyiv’s transport 
system and repurposed €59 million in grants to repair trains and railways in Ukraine, install temporary 
replacement bridges, and improve healthcare and housing for people forced to flee their homes. 
Supporting projects away from conflict areas
“We can’t launch big, national projects right now, so our work is focused on small projects and helping 
people live during these hard times,” says Hervé Guenassia, another senior European Investment Bank 
loan officer working on Ukrainian projects. “If we did a big project, such as repairing an airport, we are 
sure Russia would destroy it.”
The European Investment Bank has been working in Ukraine for 15 years, financing more than €8 billion 
in projects. In 2014, after Russia occupied eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, we approved a 
€200 million early recovery framework loan to assist people who fled the conflict and the towns that 
accepted large numbers of refugees. Some of the projects that the loan helped to fund have since been 
destroyed by the war, including a state-of-the art library and technology centre in Mariupol.
“It is very sad to see so many of these projects destroyed, because this work brought so much 
hope to the local people,” says Roy Draycott, a civil engineer at the European Investment Bank who 
worked in the Kyiv office for six years.

European Investment Bank Group Activity Report 2022