Project Description
Senior unsecured loan in the amount of up to USD 20 mln equivalent in GEL to be provided to TBC Bank to support investment financing for micro, small and medium sized enterprises ("MSMEs") in Georgia, and promote EU standards in the market under the Eastern Partnership SME Competitiveness ("EaP SMEC") Programme, a successor to the DCFTA Programme, for sustainable investments in technology and equipment.
Project Objectives
The project will enable the bank to finance medium to long-term investments of Georgian MSMEs in upgrading their technology and equipment necessary to meet EU standards in terms of product quality, health and safety measures and environmental protection, enhancing their competitiveness locally and regionally. The Project aims to deliver at least 75% of sub-loans complying with EBRD Green Economy Transition (GET) approach.
Transition Impact
ETI score: 75
Competitive: the programme will encourage SMEs' earlier adoption of, and compliance to higher, EU-level standards. It is also set to contribute to the technical capacity of TBC bank, and to provide business advice to SMEs in DCFTA-related areas.
Resilient: the programme fosters the resilience through maintaining adequate portfolio quality of partner financial institutions.
Client Information
TBC BANK JSC
TBC Bank ("TBC") is a leading universal bank in Georgia holding more than one third of market share in total banking assets, loan and deposit portfolios in Georgia. It offers a wide range of services (including FX transactions, non-financial services to support business development, as well as leasing, brokerage and investment banking via its subsidiaries) to its retail, corporate and MSME clients through its wide distribution network of up to 160 branches and digital channels.
EBRD Finance Summary
USD 20,000,000.00
Total Project Cost
USD 20,000,000.00
Additionality
Key sources of additionality under the project are:
(i) Financing structure that is not available in the market (medium to long term funding in local currency);
(ii) Innovative financing structure (green finance instrument that integrates climate and ESG considerations into the financing structure);
(iii) Knowledge, innovation and capacity building (technical assistance under the programme will support timely realisation of EU-compliant investments in Georgia); and
(iv) Use of EBRD expertise to achieve higher gender standards and/or equal opportunities action plans by introducing a gender-bias training for lending staff and the representatives from ESG Ambassadors, employees of ESG department, Credit Analysts and Risk Managers at TBC Bank.
Environmental and Social Summary
Categorised FI (ESP 2019). TBC bank is a long-standing client of EBRD and compliance with, and reporting on, the Bank requirements have been good in the context of the existing and previous projects.
Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing
The EaP SME Competitiveness sub-operation will be complemented by grant funding (TC and Non-TC) sourced from the EU through the Delegation Agreement between EBRD and the European Commission re SME Competitiveness Programme in Eastern Partnership:
(i) A project consultant under the EaP SMEC Programme will assist TBC with the implementation of the facility. A separate verification consultant (VC) will be engaged to verify the technical implementation of sub-projects before investment incentives are released to relevant MSMEs.
(ii) The project is supported by up to USD 2.88 million investment incentives to TBC's sub-borrowers, calculated for each sub-project as up to 15% of the lower of (i) the disbursed amount of the sub-loan, and (ii) the investment cost of the relevant sub-project, and
(iii) 50% of the senior unsecured loan will benefit from First Loss Risk Cover (FLRC) under the SME LCY programme provided by SME Local Currency Risk Sharing Special Fund.
Company Contact Information
Ketevan Bitskinashvili
dcm@tbcbank.com.ge
+(995 32) 227 27 27
https://tbcbankgroup.com/
7 Marjanishvili St. Tbilisi, Georgia 0102
Implementation summary
PSD last updated
04 Aug 2022
Understanding Transition
Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.
Business opportunities
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Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)
The ESP and the associated Performance Requirements (PRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the PRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation as well as to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about environmental and social 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 additionally requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts arising from 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 activities of the Bank 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 Bank believes that identifying and resolving issues at the project assessment approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts, and also helps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.
OCCO is also responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, both 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. All matters reported will be handled by OCCO for follow-up. All reports, including anonymous ones, will be reviewed. 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 sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations following its entry into force on 1 January 2020. 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 (e.g. 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 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; how to submit a Request for review; or contact IPAM via email ipam@ebrd.com to get guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.
