EBRD finances NewCold’s first automated cold storage in Romania

• EBRD and BCR to co-finance NewCold’s first automation cold store in Romania
• Project expects 50 per cent lower energy intensity and greenhouse gas reductions
• Supporting Romania’s ambitious sustainable energy goals

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan of up to RON 182.8 million (equivalent to €36 million) to NewCold Romania SRL, supporting the development of the company’s first high-automation cold storage warehouse.

The project marks a significant expansion of NewCold’s innovative logistics network in Central and Eastern Europe following the completion of two projects in Poland last year.

The EBRD’s loan will support the development of the project consisting of an automated warehouse and an adjacent manual warehouse in Bucharest. The Bank will lend in parallel with Banca Comercială Română (BCR), which will also provide RON 182.8 million.

This comprises the first two phases of a project which will receive up to RON 695.6 million overall from the two banks. EBRD lending will benefit from a partial EU guarantee under the EBRD InvestEU Framework for Sustainable Transition.

Vlaho Kojakovic, EBRD Director, Real Estate, said: “This investment brings a new generation of automated, energy efficient logistics infrastructure to Romania. By supporting NewCold’s expansion, we are helping the introduction of cutting-edge technology that sharply reduces energy use and emissions, strengthens supply chain resilience, and raises industry standards. It is exactly the kind of green, competitive transformation the EBRD is committed to delivering.”

NewCold, the world’s third largest refrigerated food logistics provider, offers advanced temperature-controlled supply chain solutions. With 26 highly automated and energy-efficient warehouses across three continents, NewCold offers a combined capacity of more than 2 million pallet positions. With a growing transport fleet, NewCold provides end-to-end supply chain solutions to leading food companies powered by proprietary technology and backed by a team of over 3,000 people from over 40 cultures.

The new Bucharest warehouse will introduce to Romania a highly resource-efficient and fully automated logistics model expected to cut energy intensity by around 50 per cent compared with conventional cold storages of similar size.

The project’s energy saving automation and optimisation systems will contribute to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, supporting Romania’s climate and energy goals.

InvestEU is a flagship initiative of the European Union aimed at supporting strategic investments in sustainable infrastructure, research, innovation and digitalisation, small and medium-sized businesses and social investment and skills. It provides a guarantee mechanism to unlock financing that might not otherwise be available, focusing on projects that promote long-term growth and resilience.

The EBRD is one of the key implementing partners of the InvestEU Programme and deploys the EU guarantee through direct lending operations and a range of portfolio risk‑sharing instruments across its EU countries of operations.
The EBRD is committed to advancing green and competitive private-sector investment in Romania. A major investor in Romania, the EBRD has to date invested more than €12.3 billion in 584 projects there