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OTP Bank joins EBRD’s Ukrainian energy efficiency programme
$50 million credit line will help firms cut energy costs
The EBRD is extending a $50 million loan facility of to CJSC OTP Bank, Ukraine, a fully owned subsidiary of OTP Bank Plc. of Hungary.
The loan comes via the EBRD’s €100 million framework (Ukraine Energy Efficiency Programme) under which financial institutions fund energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Ukraine. CJSC OTP Bank, Ukraine is one of the largest banks in the country and the fourth Ukrainian bank to join the programme.
The main objective of the framework is to tackle Ukraine’s energy intensity, which is over three times the average for the European Union.
Small and medium-sized Ukrainian private sector companies will be able to receive sub-loans of up to $5 million from CJSC OTP Bank, Ukraine, to finance their energy efficiency initiatives. This will help them reduce their energy consumption and costs, a particularly important business factor in the context of rising energy prices in Ukraine.
The UKEEP is supported by technical assistance funding provided by the Swedish government and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance. Framework consultants use this funding to help participating banks and clients screen projects, set up marketing and information campaigns, identify efficiency measures and prepare rational energy utilisation plans and loan applications.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of July 2008, it had committed over €3.74 billion through 172 projects.
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