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Slovenia investing in clean-up of Danube
EBRD lends €10 million to Nova Ljubljanska banka
In the third project under a joint facility with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the EBRD is lending €10 million to Slovenia’s largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska banka d.d., for projects aimed at reducing water pollution flowing into the Slovenian portion of the Danube River Basin.
The EBRD/GEF environmental facility was set up last year. The Bank is committing up to €45 million to local banks for on-lending to local borrowers for environmental investment projects related to the Danube, while the GEF is providing $9.9 million in grant financing and for technical assistance. The aim is to promote environmental investments by private-sector companies and smaller municipalities. GEF provides financial incentives needed to overcome barriers to environmental investment.
Borut Stanic, Member of the Management Board of Nova Ljubljanska banka d.d., Ljubljana, said: “In line with our policy to support the community it is our great pleasure to participate in this project. NLB aims to promote the business initiatives focused on the preservation of the global environment and is pleased to be able to expand its services by financing such projects in cooperation with the EBRD”. He added that the facility will significantly expand and complement the services NLB is already offering to its clients.
The EBRD has already signed similar agreements with Volksbank Ljudska banka d.d. and Bank Austria Creditanstalt d.d. Ljubljana.
The GEF was set up in 1991 by the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP to provide grant and concession funding for measures to achieve global environmental benefits. Typical areas of GEF focus are biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. The facility has allocated $4.5 billion in grants to support more than 1,200 projects in 140 developing nations.
The joint EBRD/GEF facility for Slovenia is a pilot project designed for replication in other Danube River Basin countries.
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