A digest of recent news from the EBRD.
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Turkey’s leading utility Enerjisa Enerji to upgrade network with EBRD loan
The EBRD extended a local currency loan equivalent to US$ 110 million to Enerjisa Enerji, one of Turkey’s largest energy companies, to finance its investment programme. The funds will help the utility upgrade and digitalise its network, improve the reliability of power supply, integrate renewables and introduce environmental, health and safety measures.
Fitch Revises EBRD's Outlook to Stable; Affirms at 'AAA'
Fitch revised its credit outlook for the EBRD from negative to stable, and reaffirmed the Bank’s AAA-rating, reversing its previous outlook published in 2020. Fitch acknowledged that the concerns of last year for the EBRD’s capitalisation and risk metrics proved to be unfounded, and the Bank is now expected to maintain excellent capitalisation levels over the medium-term. The EBRD’s rating is now AAA/AAA/AAA stable with Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.
e-learning programme to advance Morocco’s capital markets
The EBRD launched a capital markets e-learning programme in Morocco in association with Intuition, a digital provider of financial training. The programme will help participants update their capital markets knowledge and skills.
EBRD, EU, Austria and local banks donate trees to the city of Skopje
To celebrate the achievements of the EBRD’s GEFF programme and to symbolically contribute to the fight against climate change, 50 catalpa trees were planted in Skopje in an effort to make the capital of North Macedonia greener. The trees were donated by the EBRD, the EU, Austria and a group of local banks including Komercijalna Bank, NLB Bank, ProCredit Bank and Sparkasse Bank. The banks participate in the Western Balkans GEFF which supports households willing to invest in energy efficiency improvements.
Project signings and agreements
Upgrading wastewater services in Jordan
Under the EBRD’s Municipal Resilience Refugee Response Framework, a sovereign loan of €30 million, co-financed by a €30 million grant from the EU, was provided to the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation. The funds will be used to build a modern wastewater treatment plant which will serve up to 1 million people across in Jordan.
Boosting renewable energy in Central Europe
The EBRD supported Photon Energy NV, a renewable energy developer and independent power producer with Czech origins, with an investment of €10 million in the company’s €55 million green bond issuance to be used for the company’s development, construction and operations of greenfield solar photovoltaic power plant projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
€25 million SME support loan to Erste Bank Serbia
In Serbia, the EBRD extended a loan of up to €25 million to Erste Bank Serbia to support the resilience of SMEs. The loan will provide short-term liquidity to Erste Bank’s clients and help soften the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
EBRD invests in Noval Property’s debut green bond in Greece
The EBRD has successfully participated in a debut green bond issuance by Noval Property in Greece, with an investment of €12 million of the total €120 million offering.
Turkey’s Altintel Port set for eco-friendly expansion with EBRD loan
Altintel Port, a liquid bulk port located in Kocaeli, western Turkey, is set for an environmentally friendly expansion with a US$ 8.5 million loan from the EBRD to finance the construction and installation of 18 chemical storage tanks and related infrastructure.
The new facilities will be used for handling and storage of raw materials to be used in consumer goods, chemical, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, construction, electronics and automotive industries.
EBRD to support EU-funded Slovak Recovery and Resilience Plan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the Slovak Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in the field of energy efficiency and the green economy, boosting green investments as a crucial part of the long-term response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the EBRD, the Slovak Ministry of Environment and the Slovak Environmental Agency, the parties agree to support investments in the energy efficiency of single family homes in the Slovak Republic with the help of a dedicated programme.
Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank joins EBRD’s green financing facility
The EBRD extended a US$ 10 million loan to the country’s largest private lender Hamkorbank. The funds will be provided under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) launched in Uzbekistan in 2019 to support green finance. They will help domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are responsible for at least 56 per cent of Uzbekistan’s GDP, invest in green technologies.
Donors
Investing in digitalisation for happier customers and employees
Sunce Marinković, which specialises in the production and installation of energy-efficient windows and doors in Serbia, purchased two machines with a loan from Banca Intesa and received a grant worth €43,000, funded by the EU. Both the loan and the grant were provided under a programme supported by the EBRD and the EU. It promotes the competitiveness of Serbian SMEs and helps them comply with various EU regulations and standards. The same SME managed to digitalise its internal work processes by participating in the EBRD’s Advice for Small Businesses programme also supported by the EU.
How does a Turkish steel producer go green?
Ergin Makine, a specialised steel producer based in Istanbul, Turkey, worked with the EBRD’s Advice for Small Business programme to receive green certification for its production facility. Having completed the GreenWeight’s Life Cycle Assessment and the Environmental Products Declaration, Ergin Makine can now proudly call itself a green business and share the environmental and sustainability benefits of its GreenWeight technology with a wider audience.
Supporting green technology company Go To-U in Ukraine
In Ukraine, Go To-U is one of the winners of Climate Innovation Vouchers, an initiative led by the EBRD and funded by the EU to help technological start-ups, at the early stages of their development, develop innovative climate technologies.
Together with the European Union and in cooperation with the non-governmental organisation Greencubator, the EBRD helped the company develop unique software and grow beyond Ukraine.
EBRD in the media
The EBRD was named best project finance bank in the Bonds & Loans Turkey Awards 2021 of GFC Media Group.
EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik spoke to Deutsche Welle about how materials could impact the speed of energy transition. She explained that solid international ties are key to a well-functioning critical materials market.
EBRD Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group Nandita Parshad spoke to Qazaq Green Journal about the Bank’s readiness to support Kazakhstan on its path towards carbon neutrality. “The EBRD welcomes Kazakhstan’s pledge to reach net zero by 2060, and we are ready to support the country on this journey. One of the critical elements for the decarbonisation of the country is energy transition as in Kazakhstan 70 per cent of electricity is still generated by coal- fired power plants.”, she said.
Manuela Naessl, the EBRD’s Head of Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked the 25th anniversary of the Bank’s activity in the country by speaking to Aljazeera Balkans about planned projects, youth retention and environmental protection. “In BiH we are focused on the following priorities: strengthening the private sector, support for investment in key public infrastructure, support for energy diversification and the reduction of carbon emissions,” she said.
EBRD’s Regional Head of Greece & Cyprus, Andreea Moraru published an op-ed for the Greek news outlet Epixeiro about the implementation of Greece’s innovative Recovery and Resilience Plan.
“The transition to more sustainable and resilient economies has always been among the key priorities for the EBRD. In Greece, the EBRD's priorities are no different: we are strengthening the competitiveness of the private sector, supporting sustainable energy and infrastructure projects and strengthening the resilience of the financial sector,” she wrote.
Reuters mentioned EBBD Managing Director, Green Economy & Climate Action, Harry Boyd-Carpenter in an article on “'Greenflation' a risk for renewable energy, but long-term viability intact”. According to Boyd- Carpenter, the overall costs for the renewable energy industry will trend downwards as there are few barriers to scaling up.
Bloomberg HT’s “Akıllı Tarım” programme looked at IPUD, which is supported by the EBRD, and Better Cotton production in Turkey.
The EBRD on social media
The world turned orange for the International Day to End Violence against Women. EBRD colleagues are joining 16 days of activism to stand against gender-based violence.
Congratulations to Montenegro and its wonderful cuisine cookbook Mountain Bounty! Together with FAO we’ve backed a book about sustainable food tourism in the country, and it received a Cookbook Fair award!
Our Sunita Pitamber met NGO partners Save The Children and Oxfam this week to discuss the outcomes of COP26.
