The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing an additional loan of 75 million euros to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) to support the construction of the Göztepe-Ataşehir-Ümraniye metro line on the city’s Anatolian side, the lender said Friday.
The funds are an extension to a loan of 97.5 million euros ($94.7 million) provided to the city in 2019.
The EBRD said the construction project is a "trigger" initiative under the Bank’s EBRD Green Cities program, which supports city investments in green and sustainable solutions that advance their decarbonization.
Istanbul joined the EBRD Green Cities program in 2021. The Turkish cities of western İzmir, southeastern Gaziantep and the capital Ankara are also active members of this flagship municipal program.
During the signing ceremony of the additional loan, Nandita Parshad, managing director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Group at the EBRD, said she is delighted to sign the first EBRD Green Cities project in Istanbul. "Supporting sustainable urban mobility, reducing journey times, traffic congestion and air pollution and improving the quality of life of its citizens."
"This project also promotes gender and inclusion through a learning program for 400 young people at the Istanbul Metro Company and the development of an Equal Opportunities Action Plan. Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the EBRD Green Cities program of now over 50 cities and we look forward to working on many more projects to support the city’s ambition to make it an even greener and more livable city," Parshad said.
Istanbul will also commit to developing a Green City Action Plan to priorities local environmental challenges and put forward a plan of targeted investment and policy actions to facilitate its net zero pathway.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul mayor, for his part, said the rail networks play a great part in the vision they have for Istanbul.
"We are investing heavily in metro lines that are environmentally friendly, comfortable and fast. That is why Istanbul is in the position of being the city building the most metros simultaneously," he said.
The EBRD is one of the leading institutional investors in Türkiye. It has invested more than 17.2 billion euros in 385 projects in the country since 2009, most of them in the private sector.