EBRD in loan to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The EBRD is a providing a €10 million loan to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects by private companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

The credit to Raiffeisen BANK Bosnia and Herzegovina will be used for lending to private Bosnian companies investing in sustainable energy projects.

It is part of the EU/EBRD Western Balkans Sustainable Energy Credit Line Facility, which is a wider joint programme of the EBRD and the European Commission to provide up to €60 million in loans to banks involved in lending for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, and Montenegro.

The facility aims to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in businesses in the Western Balkans, helping both to reduce the region’s energy dependency and to help mitigate the impact of climate change.

The EBRD sees significant potential for improvements in industrial energy efficiency in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The facility is complemented by €13.5 million of EU grant funding from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)*, which will be used for technical assistance to support energy efficiency projects and for incentives to kick-start investments. Further Technical Cooperation will be funded by the EBRD Western Balkans Multi-donor Fund in the amount of €2.5 million..

Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, welcomed the excellent cooperation between the EU and the EBRD for the benefit of BiH. “We are launching a new product for energy efficiency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, building on the excellent experience we had in similar projects together with the EBRD in other countries in the region. The European Union is the largest donor to Bosnia and Herzegovina with its assistance totalling € 2.8 billion since 1996, while about € 300 million have been foreseen under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) for the period from 2009 to 2011“, Mr. Kourkoulas added.

Giulio Moreno, Head of EBRD Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said “This facility is a key element of the Bank’s strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, helping to increase investments in sustainable energy in the country and also giving us the opportunity of working with a significant banking group on the all-important issue of sustainable energy.”

Michael Muller, CEO of Raiffeisen BANK dd Bosna i Hercegovina said: “Raiffeisen BANK BiH is looking forward to implement this energy efficiency credit line together with the EBRD, for the benefit of local companies and economic growth of the country. Energy saving is of particular interest to Raiffeisen BANK BiH as it benefits the environment and general welfare, two of our main objectives we are focusing on as a responsible partner of the communities” Mr. Muller stated.

The EU/EBRD Western Balkans Sustainable Energy Credit Line is expected to replicate the successes already achieved with similar arrangements in neighbouring Bulgaria and Romania and in Ukraine and Slovakia.

The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Bosnia, with €963 million committed in 74 projects across the country. Working with its many partners, the Bank has mobilized more than €2.5 billion for projects in the country.

The IPA programme is the main channel for the EU’s financial and technical cooperation with pre-accession countries. For further information, see: http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/e50020.htm

Raiffeisen BANK dd Bosna i Hercegovina is a subsidiary of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG (Raiffeisen International), a fully consolidated subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB). RZB is a leading corporate and investment bank in Austria and also considers Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as its home market. It is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, the country's largest banking group.

Proofs of the Raiffeisen Bank’s successful business are many international and local awards. Some of them are Global Finance and Euromoney "The Best Bank in B&H", The Banker "Bank of the Year", awards by Finance Central Europe and by local magazines Banke and Prizma. Beside Raiffeisen bank, the Raiffeisen Group in Bosnia and Herzegovina includes Raiffeisen Brokers, Raiffeisen Capital and Raiffeisen Leasing.