Marta Gajęcka, EIB Vice President for lending in Central Europe, said the funds will help Poland to promote investments leading to the establishment of a knowledge-based society. “[They will] improve the access of Polish public and private SMEs, that are mostly hit by the current crisis, to medium and long-term funds.”
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education, public scientific institutes, public universities and colleges will be beneficiaries of the money which will be used to support the public science system in Poland in 2009 and 2010. In particular, there will be capital investments in basic research infrastructure and equipment for institutes and universities across the country.
This will be backed by increased government spending on the application of research and the promotion of innovation by scientists and other academic staff. This will include paying a proportion of salary costs to support research staff in getting involved in innovation.
The EIB has been supporting research development and innovation in Poland since 2004, investing €3.13 billion, including the current loan. This represents some 23 per cent of the total loans provided by the EIB to Poland since its EU accession.
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