Norway is a founding member of the EBRD and a strong strategic partner of the Bank, often at the forefront of new initiatives.
It was the first donor to establish a technical cooperation fund with the EBRD in 1991 and has since contributed over €145 million in donor funds.
Norway and the EBRD: at a glance
€145mn donor funds supporting EBRD operations
1.25% capital share
€2.58bn Norway-EBRD investments
Norway provides donor funds both bilaterally and through multi-donor funds. Its bilateral fund primarily finances environmental, energy and financial sector projects in the Western Balkans. A new dedicated fund was established in 2018 to support skills development and SME financing in the same region.
Norway is a strong supporter of EBRD multi-donor funds, contributing to the EBRD Water Fund, the Early Transition Countries (ETC) Fund, the European Western Balkans Joint Fund (EWBJF), the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP), the Southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multi-Donor Account, the Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account (Ukraine MDA) and in 2020 the Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF). In 2022, support from Norway has been channelled through the EBRD Crisis Response Special Fund (CRSF) to support Ukraine.
Norway is an important source of foreign direct investment in the EBRD’s countries of operations. The value of joint Norway-EBRD investment stood at around €2.58 billion as of end of January 2021. EBRD finance accounted for €1.47 billion, and Norwegian investment accounted for €1.1 million. The majority of these deals were in the private sector.
The joint investment has been strong in Poland and regionally, followed by Georgia, Egypt and the Slovak Republic. Broken down by industry, the investment has been in sustainable infrastructure, industry, commerce and agribusiness, and in financial institutions.
Norwegian banks are also involved in the Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), through which the EBRD guarantees the payment of trade finance instruments issued by banks in its countries of operations to foreign confirming banks. Through the Programme, the EBRD has supported export and import transactions of Norwegian banks. Over 800 foreign confirming banks and bank branches participate in the TFP, four are Norwegian.
