European Union: EBRD shareholder profile

The EBRD’s strong relationship with EU institutions is multi-faceted and extremely wide-ranging.

The EU owns 2.84 per cent of the EBRD’s capital. As the largest single donor to the EBRD, the EU has accounted for about 40 per cent of total donor funds channelled through the EBRD since the Bank’s inception.

2.84%

Capital share (February 2025)

€8.22 billion

total donor contributions (including €6.22 billion secured solely for the EBRD and €2 billion allocated to EBRD-managed funds)

€1.25 billion

contributed to EBRD projects (including €942 million in grants and €310 million in guarantees, both funded and unfunded)

Funding channels include the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) for Türkiye and the Western Balkans, the Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) for countries on the eastern and southern edge of Europe, and Central Asia, as well as the External Guarantee of the European Fund for Sustainable Development. EBRD projects in EU member states have also benefited from funding through InvestEU, the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and the Horizon 2020 programme.

The EBRD – an MDB with a European backbone

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Contacts

Roy Dickinson (Alternate Director) - Office of the Board Director for the European Union Director

Telephone:

+44 (0)20 7338 6468

Email:

EUOffice@ebrd.com

EBRD Representative Office in Brussels

Telephone:

+32 2 234 78 95
+32 2 234 78 96

Peter Kalotai, EBRD Director, EU Affairs & Strategic Relations

Telephone:

+ 44 (0) 20 7338 6000

Email:

brusselsoffice@ebrd.com

Media enquiries - EBRD Press office

Telephone:

+44 (0) 20 7338 7805

Email:

press@ebrd.com

In addition to accessing EU funding on a bilateral basis, the EBRD is an active participant in the regional blending facilities, which combine grants with investments from European and International financial institutions.

WBIF

the Western Balkans Investment Framework

NIP

the Neighbourhood Investment Platform

APIF

the Asia Pacific Investment Facility

MADAD Fund

the EU’s Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis

The EU is also critical to EBRD operations by supporting policy dialogue. The EU is a driver of policy and legislation in many countries in which the EBRD invests. The Bank cooperates with EU institutions on current and emerging policies, whether linked to IFI growth plans, environmental issues or initiatives such as Vienna 2.0 (a private-public sector platform established to secure adequate capital and liquidity support by banking groups for their affiliates in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe).

Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF)

The European Union is EBRD’s biggest donor in the Western Balkans, with more than €1.1 billion* of contributions over the last 5 years. These funds are provided through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and on a bilateral basis, to support EBRD’s work in developing the private sector and building sustainable infrastructure in the Western Balkan countries. EU funding in the region supports inter alia programmes aiming at increasing the competitiveness of the SME sector and improving their channels of access to finance at both national and regional level. In addition, EBRD mobilises these funds to support infrastructure, energy, and private sector development projects of high transition impact.

EBRD has benefitted from the WBIF since its launch as a co-operation platform uniting beneficiaries, donors and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in 2009. The WBIF supports socioeconomic development and EU accession across the region by blending technical assistance and investment grants from the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and contributions from bilateral donors with loans from IFIs. Sectors supported under the WBIF are digital, energy, environment, social, transport and private sector development.

The European Western Balkans Joint Fund (EWBJF), managed by the EBRD and the EIB, is a multi-donor fund under the WBIF and the key instrument for pooling of grants and loans within the WBIF.

Since its inception, the WBIF Steering Committee approved more than €1.25 billion of grants for EBRD-led projects, out of which cc. €1.1 billion will be financed by the EU.

Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP)

The Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP) supports projects in the transport, energy, financial, social and environmental sectors by combining EU grant resources with loans from European development financing institutions.

Projects recently co-financed by the NIP include the Women in Business Programme and the Saiss and Garet Water Project in Morocco, the Al Ghabawi Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jordan, the Innovation and SME Competitiveness in Lebanon, the MSME Financial Inclusion Programme and the Kitchener Drain and Fayoum Wastewater Projects in Egypt, and the Green Economy Financing Facilities in five SEMED countries. In the East, the NIP supports (among others) the Sisian-Kajaran Road Project, the Meghri Border Crossing Project and the Masrik Solar Plant Project in Armenia, road and railway projects in Moldova, the extension of the EBRD SME Financing Facility and the FINTECC programme in the Eastern Partnership countries and TC support for the protection of economic competition in Armenia. The NIP was also instrumental in repurposing funds for municipal projects in Ukraine.

Asia Pacific Investment Facility (APIF)

The Asia Pacific Investment Facility (APIF), and its subregional predecessors, the Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA) and the Asia Investment Facility (AIF), are key in supporting EBRD activities in Central Asia and Mongolia. Since 2010, these blending facilities and EBRD have had a very strong partnership with 85 per cent of IFCA funds allocated to the EBRD in the form of grants and risk sharing for EBRD investments across the region in the municipal infrastructure, SME and energy efficiency sectors. Recent projects co-financed by IFCA include new subprojects of the Kyrgyz Water Rehabilitation Framework, the extension of the regional SME Financing Facility and the Khatlon Energy Loss Reduction Project in Tajikistan. The AIF co-finances EBRD projects to support economic diversification by providing access to finance for SMEs in Mongolia, to modernise the solid waste and district heating sector in the capital Ulaanbaatar and to establish flood protection and reduce water loss in the city of Erdenet. The APIF has recently approved to co-finance the Choir-Sainshand transmission line project in Mongolia.

Madad Fund

The EU’s Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis, the MADAD Fund, addresses educational, economic and social needs of Syrian refugees while also supporting overstretched host country communities and their administrations. The MADAD Fund co-financed the EBRD’s West Irbid Wastewater Network Construction Project in Jordan with an investment grant of €20 million in 2018.

* This amount includes funds secured for EBRD-led projects through the Infrastructure Project Facility under the Western Balkans Investment Framework.

The EBRD has also been a key implementing partner of the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD), and its successor programme, the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+).

The EFSD and the EFSD+ programmes provide unfunded guarantees as risk-mitigation mechanisms to catalyse financing for development and importantly to leverage private sector investments. Under the EFSD/ EFSD+, seven EBRD programmes have been contracted so far for a total of €580 million in guarantees. These programmes cover selected regions, excluding EU member states, and target different sectors:

The Framework to Scale up Renewable Energy Investments Programme: €50 million in guarantees to scale up investments in renewable energy and accelerate the energy transition.
The Municipal Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience Programme: €100 million in guarantees for projects that contribute to the green economy transition or for companies affected by either the Covid-19 pandemic or more recently the war on Ukraine. The projects are in the manufacturing and services, property and tourism, municipal infrastructure, or transport and logistics sectors. An additional €60 million guarantee allocation was signed in January 2024, to extend the programme and expand its geographical coverage to Türkiye.
The Digital Transformation Platform: €35 million in guarantees to support investments in the broadband access infrastructure sector and the development of digital solutions.
The Financial Inclusion Programme: €115 million in guarantees to enhance access to finance for SMEs.
The Growth4All programme: €52.5 million guarantee allocation to expand to the Western Balkans and Türkiye the currently operational EFSD+ Financial Inclusion programme.
The Hi-Bar programme: €168 million guarantee allocation to accelerate investments in the next wave of climate mitigation technologies and business models in the energy sector and energy intensive industries in all EBRD country of operations outside the EU.

Additional allocations to expand the geographical coverage of the existing Resilience, Growth4All, and Digital programmes have also been approved but not yet contracted under the EFSD+.

The Credit Enhancement of Green Bonds Programme

€65 million guarantee to support the financing of a pipeline of investable assets across selected countries of operations through the credit enhancement of local bond issuances.

The Risk Sharing and Supply Chain Financing for ESG Projects

€76.5 million to support SMEs and Midcaps in accessing finance and delivering enhanced sustainable business practices in line with ESG standards.

EBRD received a total allocation of €561 million allocation in guarantees, grants and Technical Assistance (TA) under the Ukraine Investment Framework.

This allocation is spread across 3 programmes:

The Hi-Bar Programme aims to accelerate climate mitigation investments in the energy, and energy-intensive industrial sectors, and addresses high-barriers to mobilising finance needed to accelerate the green transition of the broader energy sector. The programme received a total allocation of EUR 157.5 million across guarantees and technical assistance.
The Municipal, Infrastructure & Industrial Resilience Guarantee Programme addresses the needs for emergency support and future reconstruction efforts across several sectors, including industry, transport, agribusiness and municipal infrastructure. The programme received a total of EUR 182.5 across guarantees, grants and technical assistance.
The Financial Inclusion Recovery Programme aims to enhance access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises in the wartime environment, by promoting recovery and development of production and operation facilities through investment. The programme received a total allocation of EUR 177 million across guarantees, grants, and technical assistance.

In addition to this, the EBRD received approval for a EUR 44 million investment grant, to be combined with EBRD’s EUR 180 million financing finance, to finance the acquisition and the installation of up to 270 MW gas-fired generation capacity at selected sites of Ukrainian Railways

The EBRD is also in the process of submitting new grant and guarantee proposals to the EC under the UIF.

The EBRD also manages multi-donor, multi-agency Funds initiated by the European Union and to which the EU is the largest contributor:

Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership fund (E5P)

The Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership fund (E5P) is a €400 million multi-donor and multi-agency fund initiated during the Swedish Presidency of the EU in 2009. E5P supports the delivery of sustainable infrastructure and municipal services across all the Eastern Partnership countries of Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova. Its main purpose is to facilitate investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions whilst driving structural reforms and policy dialogue. The European Union is the largest contributor, having contributed €145 million in total.

EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account

The EU is the largest donor to the EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account with €28.7 million of contributions between 2016 to 2019. The Multi-Donor Account enables the Bank to provide support for policy reforms, which are urgently needed to stabilise the economy and improve the investment climate, helping pave the way for investment in the country. Contributors to the Ukraine MDA are: Austria, Denmark, EU, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In 2023, the EU signed a bilateral agreement, the EU Support for Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth in Ukraine, for an amount of €5 million. This bilateral agreement between the EU and EBRD will work in parallel with, and will be complementary to, the initiatives of the Ukraine Multi-Donor Account to address the country's urgent needs as regards support for the design and implementation of policy reforms and institutional capacity building, as well as investments in the context of national recovery plans.

Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) Cooperation Fund

Modelled on NDEP, in 2023 the EBRD established a new multilateral cooperation fund to promote sustainable blue economy investments in the Mediterranean and Red Seas region. So far approximately EUR 22 milion has been pledged by Germany, France, Sweden and Spain. The fund is operational in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Participating IFIs include: AFD, CDP, EIB and KfW. First projects are being approved for Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.

Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) fund

The Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) fund, which closed in 2023, pooled funds from donor governments and the EU which were used as grants for priority environmental and nuclear safety projects in the Northern Dimension Area (i.e. north-west Russia and Belarus).

The EU and EBRD have also joint forces through a number of other financing instruments within the EU.

InvestEU Programme

The InvestEU Programme is projected to enable over €372 billion in investment in the period 2021-27, boosting innovation and job creation in the EU. The programme consists of three pillars: the Guarantee Fund, the Advisory Hub and the Portal, and the EBRD is one of the main implementing partners. The EBRD and the European Commission signed an InvestEU guarantee agreement worth up to €450 million in December 2022, subsequently increased to €610mn in mid-2023. The agreement will unlock EBRD finance of up to €2.1 billion for investments in sustainable infrastructure, green economy and digitalisation, as well as innovation and research in the EU. The Programme offers the possibility for the EBRD to invest in the 12 Member States that are EBRD Countries of operations. Investments in the critical raw materials sector are also possible outside the EU, in countries associated to the Horizon Europe Programme.

European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)

The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), which are jointly managed by the European Commission and the EU countries, aim to support investment in job creation and a sustainable and healthy European economy and environment. In this context, the EBRD has signed an agreement with Bulgaria to deploy EBRD commercial financing and concessional ESIF loans to enhance investments in the country’s water sector. The Bank also administered ESIF funds in Cyprus where it delivered a SME support programme.

Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF)

The Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF) is a temporary instrument of the EU aimed at mitigating the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the EBRD has been working with the government of Greece to combine up to €500 million of RRF concessional loans with EBRD commercial financing and financing from private investors and commercial banks to support the country’s economic recovery.

Technical Support Instrument (TSI)

The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) of European Commission’s Reform and Investment Task Force provides tailor-made assistance to all EU countries for their institutional, administrative and growth-enhancing reforms. To date, the EBRD has partnered with DG Reform on nearly 50 projects to help EU member states implement reforms and capacity-building programmes across the financial sector and access to finance, growth and business environment as well as governance and public administration.

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme. Since 2018, the EU and EBRD have been working together to foster innovation among small and medium-sized enterprises and midcap companies in Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania.

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF)

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) – the EBRD is also an Implementing Partner in EU’s AFIF which supports the renewal and upgrade of Europe’s alternative fuels infrastructure. EBRD clients can apply for EU-funded capital expenditure grants to implement their investment projects.

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European Union: EBRD shareholder profile

Contacts

WBIF

NIP

APIF

MADAD Fund

Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF)

Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP)

Asia Pacific Investment Facility (APIF)

Madad Fund

The Credit Enhancement of Green Bonds Programme

The Risk Sharing and Supply Chain Financing for ESG Projects

This allocation is spread across 3 programmes:

Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership fund (E5P)

EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account

Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) Cooperation Fund

Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) fund

InvestEU Programme

European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)

Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF)

Technical Support Instrument (TSI)

Horizon Europe

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF)

European Union: EBRD shareholder profile

Donor Partnerships

Project financing enquiries

WBIF

NIP

APIF

MADAD Fund

Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF)

Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP)

Asia Pacific Investment Facility (APIF)

Madad Fund

The Credit Enhancement of Green Bonds Programme

The Risk Sharing and Supply Chain Financing for ESG Projects

This allocation is spread across 3 programmes:

Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership fund (E5P)

EBRD-Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account

Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) Cooperation Fund

Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) fund

InvestEU Programme

European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)

Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF)

Technical Support Instrument (TSI)

Horizon Europe

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF)