European bank to enhance investment in western Balkans

The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday announced at a summit in Vienna that it is ready to finance a number of projects in Western Balkans in the near future.

The projects include rail rehabilitation in Kosovo and "further operations envisaged by the EU bank include the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP-project)", according to a statement released by EIB.

The TAP-project will help diversify gas supply to the European Union and provide an opportunity to develop the use of gas as source of energy in the Western Balkans, the statement said.

Werner Hoyer, president of the EIB, was quoted as saying that EIB is "the largest international financier in the Western Balkans." He added that the bank has signed loans of nearly 7 billion euros (7.9 billion U.S. dollars) for projects in the region over the past 10 years.

Earlier in the day, the Western Balkans Summit was held in Austrian capital city Vienna.