FIF - Regional SME CSP - Ohridska Banka - 2nd line

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Provision of a senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 4.0 million to be made available in one single tranche to Ohridska Banka Skopje under the Regional SME Competitiveness Support Programme ("SME CSP").

Project ID 52614

Status Repaying

Location

North Macedonia

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Stiven Trajchevski
stiven.trajchevski@ob.com.mk
+ 389 2 15050
www.ohridskabanka.mk
Orce Nikolov 54, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

Project ID 52614

Status Repaying

Location

North Macedonia

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

23 Mar 2021

Disclosure date

25 Mar 2021

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

FIF - Regional SME CSP - Ohridska Banka - 2nd line (Macedonian) (PDF, 0.60MB)

Project description

Provision of a senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 4.0 million to be made available in one single tranche to Ohridska Banka Skopje under the Regional SME Competitiveness Support Programme ("SME CSP").

Project objectives

The project will support investments in SMEs to upgrade production facilities and comply with EU Directives in the field of environmental protection, workers' and product safety and product quality. The investments will be selected based on the technical and financial eligibility criteria set forth in the Policy Statement for the Regional SME CSP. Support to SMEs is tailored as a combination of access to finance with TC and non-TC assistance. At least 60% of the use of the proceeds will be directed towards financing GET-eligible investments in line with the Policy Statement.

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

project contributes to the objectives of the Regional SME-CSP, supporting the competitive and resilient TI qualities.

Competitive: The programme will encourage the competitiveness of SMEs in the Western Balkans, by (i) supporting SMEs in accessing finance towards EU standards investments; and (ii) assisting SMEs to access advice and know-how for introducing and implementing EU standards and becoming competitive.

Resilient: The project will foster the resilience of SMEs as sub-borrowers will be expected to be commercially viable, which should be achieved given the underwriting expertise and adequate portfolio quality of OB.

Client information

OHRIDSKA BANKA AD

Ohridska Banka ("OB") is currently the 5th largest bank in North Macedonia. Previously a subsidiary of Societe Generale, OB was acquired by Steiermarkische Sparkasse in November 2019 and is expected to merge with Sparkasse Bank Macedonija in the summer of 2021. After the merger, the new combined entity will be the fourth largest bank, with a market share of 12%.

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 4,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 4,000,000.00

Additionality

Additionality is achieved by combining necessary long-term financing with TC and investment incentives into a package that helps unlock the full potential of SMEs in North Macedonia and is structured to promote compliance with EU and international standards by improving the supply of dedicated financing and increasing the demand for such investments.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (2019 ESP). OB is an existing client and has provided satisfactory Annual E&S Reports to the Bank to date. OB will be required to continue to implement the environmental and social risk management procedure for Micro, SME and Corporate loans; continue to comply with the EBRD's Performance Requirements (PRs) 2, 4 and 9, including adherence to the expanded EBRD E&S Exclusion List and Referral List introduced with ESP 2019 and submit Annual E&S Reports to the Bank. Ohridska will need to establish adequate E&S risk management capacity by hiring a duly qualified E&S specialist and participating in EBRD's E&S training as available.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

TC: TC will include support for Programme Consultants that will assist with the implementation, marketing and monitoring of the Programme and a separate verification of the technical implementation of the investments by the Sub-borrowers before the incentive payment is released.

Co-investment grants: EUR 600,000 for incentives to Sub-borrowers for implementation of eligible investments in line with CSP WB Policy Statement.

The resources are provided by the European Union.

Company Contact Information

Stiven Trajchevski
stiven.trajchevski@ob.com.mk
+ 389 2 15050
www.ohridskabanka.mk
Orce Nikolov 54, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

PSD last updated

25 Mar 2021

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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FIF - Regional SME CSP - Ohridska Banka - 2nd line

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)