The President of the Republic received
the President of the European Investment Bank
The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, received today,
at the Presidential Palace, the President of the European Investment Bank, Mr
Werner Hoyer.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Hoyer said: “We had a
very friendly and constructive talk with the President on several issues, of
course the activities of the Bank in Cyprus. Cyprus is second to none in the EU.
16% of the Cypriot GDP is the portfolio of the Bank. So we are very heavily
exposed here, we are going to continue to do that, we are going to be in quite
different areas of the economy. We are particularly successful presently with
loans to small and medium sized companies because that is the backbone of the
industry here.
We are active also in the field of innovation, I am on my way to the
University of Cyprus where we are going to finance the next stage of the
development of the University. So, all and all things are going very very well
and of course we are observing closely what is going on here domestically.”
Invited to say if he is satisfied with the performance of the loan
agreements that he signed with the banks, and what loan agreements will Cyprus
and the EIB have in 2016, Mr Hoyer said that “things always start a little bit
slow and then they take up speed, and I talked to the banks yesterday and they
urgently demand more. That is a very good sign.
Obviously there is a need for these loans and there is no reason for
us not to do it. In substance, we are on a very good track, the talks also with
the banks here. In addition to that, we are interested in a couple of important
infrastructure things here.
All and all Cyprus has been a success story. The activities, the
efforts, the sacrifices of the Cypriot people were very very painful, I am aware
of that, and still youth unemployment is too high, unemployment figures are not
satisfactory, certainly not, but still, it is a success story if we go back 4-5
years to where we stand now. I would not have expected that some years ago and
the Bank has contributed to that, I am really proud of it.”
