Property and tourism projects

Project Summary Documents

Project Summary Documents (PSDs) are disclosed for each project prior to Board consideration. They contain project descriptions, financial details, client information, environmental issues, tender guidelines, and contact details. PSDs for private sector projects are disclosed at least 30 days prior to Board consideration and for state sector projects, at least 60 days.

Project Summary Documents

Signed projects

Board approval is the final stage in the project approval process. After Board approval, the EBRD and the client sign the deal and it becomes legally binding. Signed project lists reflect year-end data.

Signed projects  (0.1Mb)  

Case studies

Boosting tourism in south-eastern Europe

Bulgaria and Romania can offer visitors fine climates and magnificent scenery but many of their hotels require upgrading to meet the needs of well-travelled tourists.

The EBRD and Europe’s largest tourism company, TUI of Germany, are helping local hoteliers in these countries to modernise their accommodation to attract more international tourists in the three and four star categories. This will provide a boost to the countries’ economies and expand business opportunities in a variety of sectors from construction to retailing.

The Bank has lent €41 million to TUI which will on-lend smaller amounts to a wide range of local hotels on a case-by-case approach. TUI will market and use these hotels on an exclusive basis. Under the agreement, TUI will also extend loans to hotels in Montenegro, Hungary and Croatia. The EBRD’s financing is expected to mobilise as much as €80 million in investments. By working with TUI, the EBRD is able to fund a range of hotel projects that would be too small for the Bank to fund directly.

TUI will provide training for local hotel employees to raise standards to international levels. In the longer term, the project will also help to increase competition in the tourism sector. Mr Heim, TUI’s Regional Director for South-eastern Europe, confirms: “TUI regards this region as a prime destination for families and we are confident that the supply of high-quality accommodation and leisure facilities will help to develop this market.”

Giant shopping centre opens in Moscow

Up to 25 million people a year are expected to visit Mega Mall, the biggest shopping centre in eastern Europe, which opened in Moscow on 12 December 2002. The centre is the first of its kind in Russia to integrate a wide range of shops, restaurants and entertainment under one roof. Located on the outskirts of Moscow and covering 170,000 square metres, the first phase of the development includes a shopping gallery with around 150 shops, an ice skating rink, a children’s play area and a food court with cafés, bars and fast food outlets.

Designed on one level with adjacent free parking for 11,000 cars, the site was conceived and developed by IKEA and partially financed by the EBRD. The EBRD is providing a €95 million ten-year loan. We are also financing phase two of the development, which is scheduled to open in summer 2003. This will see the arrival of an 11-screen multiplex cinema, an underground car park and many more shops (making 250 in total) and restaurants.

This is IKEA’s first venture into property development in Russia, expanding on the success of its two Moscow furniture stores. The shopping centre is aimed at Moscow’s middle-income shoppers. Until now, Moscow’s boutique-style retailing offered expensive imported goods at one extreme and cheaper, locally produced goods at the other, with little to satisfy those looking for something in between.

Apart from IKEA, the big-name stores in the new shopping centre include French hypermarket chain Auchan. Benetton and other European brand names are among the many fashion shops, around 20 of which are new to the Russian market. A department store and a big DIY retailer will open in phase two of the development. The shopping centre was expected to generate around €640 million a year in sales but initial trading figures are already exceeding those forecasts.

The new shopping centre is changing the retail landscape in Moscow and will be a welcome boost to the Russian economy. It has created 5,000 new jobs, many of them in sales, marketing and customer services, and is supporting local suppliers and the commercial property and construction sectors. It is also helping to set new standards. IKEA has even established a “Mega Mall university” to train the shopping centre’s employees. IKEA plans to develop a similar shopping centre around its other Moscow store and to open its first St Petersburg store at the end of 2003. Ingvar Olsson, Deputy General Director of IKEA MOS, said: “IKEA and the EBRD are natural partners as we share the same long-term views focused on sustainable development and corporate governance.”

Europolis portfolio

Property development in central and eastern Europe has been boosted by a €105 million investment by the EBRD in Europolis Invest, one of the largest property investment companies in the region.

The financing will be used to create a regional portfolio of about 20 property assets with a total project value of approximately €1 billion under the name of Europolis. The EBRD's financing will support the diversification of Europolis, targeting the property markets in a number of countries, in particular the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Europolis Invest's current portfolio comprises six properties in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw with a market value of some €260 million. The EBRD's investment will allow Europolis to focus on developments rather than acquisitions and to expand into other areas of the property market, such as business parks, warehousing, retail and leisure. The focus on development projects is expected to give a boost to local construction companies, resulting in the development of skills and new jobs in the building industries.