News
Slovak Minister of Finance in Paris for talks with CEB Governor
4 March 2019
PARIS – The Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Rolf Wenzel, today welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic, Peter Kažimír, to the CEB’s headquarters.
“I am pleased with the excellent relations between the CEB and the Slovak Republic and stressed to Minister Kažimír the Bank’s ongoing support for social development projects in his country. Following a successful CEB Joint Meeting in Bratislava last year, we are currently exploring ways of further expanding the cooperation between the Bank and the Slovak Republic,” said Governor Wenzel.
The Slovak Republic has been a CEB member since 1998 and has had over €1.3 billion in loans approved by the Bank for projects with a high social impact, in sectors such as urban and rural modernisation, protection of the environment, job creation and preservation, social housing, and education.
In 2016, the Slovak Republic established the Slovak Inclusive Growth Account (SIGA) at the CEB in order to finance technical assistance to CEB target countries, thereby supporting the CEB's goal of promoting inclusive growth and environmental sustainability. One of the first donors to the CEB’s Migrant and Refugee Fund (MRF), the Slovak Republic made a contribution to the MRF shortly after the Fund was established in October 2015.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 Standard & Poor's, outlook stable, AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable and Aa1 with Moody's, 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.