Regional Housing Programme (RHP) Fund to receive € 26 million from the European Commission

14 April 2014

PARIS - The European Commission and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) today signed an additional Contribution Agreement in the amount of € 26 million in favour of the RHP.

Together with previous commitments of € 84 million, this agreement brings the total amount of the European Commission’s contribution committed to the RHP Fund to € 110 million.

The CEB will shortly start to disburse grants from the RHP Fund, which will be used to finance the first sub-projects in the four Partner Countries, approved in 2013.

The Regional Housing Programme (RHP) is backed by the European Commission, the United States of America, the UNHCR, the OSCE as well as the CEB which manages the RHP Fund and the Housing Programme itself. The RHP aims at offering housing solutions to about 27 000 households or 74 000 refugees and displaced persons that are considered as most vulnerable, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia (the Partner Countries). The total investment cost of the Programme, over an estimated 5-year period, should amount to € 584 million.

For more information:
Website of the Regional Housing Programme
http://www.regionalhousingprogramme.org

CEB Contact:
Secretariat of the Regional Housing Programme (ceb-rhp[at]coebank.org).

Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 Member States. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank’s target countries, are listed among the Member States. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aaa with Moody's, outlook negative, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its Member States, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its Member States for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.