• EBRD loan of €259 million for upgrades of key transport infrastructure
• Investments to promote local and regional integration
• Belarus connects western Europe with Russia, Central Asia and China, as well as the Black and Baltic Seas

Domestic and regional integration will receive a major boost from a €259 million loan programme provided by the EBRD for the expansion of Belarus’s road network.

The package includes a €126 million loan for the upgrade of 12 bridges in Belarus, contributing to a comprehensive road rehabilitation programme initiated by the government of Belarus.

The second part of the package will be a €133 million loan for the modernisation of the M3 motorway, which links the country’s capital, Minsk, with Vitebsk, the fourth-largest city of Belarus, in the north-east. The funds will be used for the rehabilitation of a 47-kilometre section of the motorway.

Belarus has a network of roads that total around 87,000 kilometres, which includes the international transit corridors II and IX, which link European Union member states with Russia, Central Asia and China. They also connect the Baltic states with the Black Sea. The improved transit capacity and better connections in Belarus will significantly contribute to the country’s economic growth prospects, stimulate trade and the help develop key infrastructure.

Technical cooperation funds for the project were provided by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and Italy through the Central European Initiative

Since the start of its operations in Belarus in 1992, the EBRD has invested almost €2.7 billion in 119 projects in various sectors of the country's economy.