The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced new plans to invest in Turkey, describing it as one of the countries that has been most committed to the bank. Managing Director of EBRD for Turkey Arvid Tuerkner said Saturday that Turkey is one of the largest countries they have been operating in and there are no plans of reducing investments there. The 2017-18 Transition Report prepared by the EBRD was introduced at the headquarters of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmens Association (TÜSİAD). Tuerkner explained that it includes large projects that will be implemented next year. He stated that investments have been distributed in different sectors such as finance, infrastructure, energy and agriculture, stressing that 97 percent of investments are aimed at the private sector. He stressed that EBRD is not an opportunistic investor. For his part, EBRD First Vice President Phil Bennett announced earlier the allocation of 1.5 billion euros for investment projects in Turkey for 2018. He said that the total international investments financed by the bank in 2016 amounted to 9.4 billion euros distributed on 43 projects and that 20 percent of these investments were in Turkey. The total investment of the EBRD in Turkey rose this year to $1.2 billion. The bank finances 30 projects in Turkey, ranking first in the countries in which the bank operates. It provided loans worth $357.9 million to its development program partners in the country. Through the advisory support program, it reached 15,000 Turkish women, who were given funding and consulting in investment projects. On the other hand, the European Union stated that it is “fully supportive” of the completion of a railway line between Turkey and Bulgaria. After a meeting at the EU-Turkey High-Level Transport Dialogue in Brussels, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan and EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc spoke to the media about the Halkalı-Kapıkule railway line, an ongoing project linking Istanbul to the border with Bulgaria. Arslan said Turkey and the EU were “determined” to finalize the project, which would benefit all EU member states connected to Asia. The railway project started in 2008 with an EU financial contribution as part of the TEN-T, Trans-European Transport Networks plan. According to the Turkish government program in 2007, the project amounted to 646 million euros ($772 million).