Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The European Investment Bank will lend about 498 million euros ($648 million) to two state-owned Romanian companies to fund the extension of the metro network and upgrade a coal-fired power plant.

The EIB, the European Union’s financing arm, will lend 465 million euros to Metrorex SA, Romania’s metro network operator, for the construction of a new corridor in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, the Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today.

The bank will also lend 33 million euros to Termolectrica SA’s Paroseni unit for the upgrade of a coal-fired heat and power plant, according to the statement.

--Editor: Douglas Lytle

To contact the reporter on this story: Andra Timu in Bucharest at atimu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net