Western Balkans GEFF II - NLBP

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Provision of a senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 2 million to NLB Banka a.d. Podgorica ("NLBP") for on-lending to the residential sector in Montenegro. The loan will have two equal tranches. The second tranche is uncommitted and the commitment is EBRD's absolute discretion. The loan is envisaged under the Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility II ("WB GEFF II"). This will be the first WB GEFF II loan to NLBP and will enable the bank to promote green economy investments in the country.

Project ID 53712

Status Disbursing

Location

Montenegro

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

Marija Kovacevic
marija.kovacevic@nlb.me
+382 20 402 225
+382 20 402 061
www.nlb.me
Stanka Dragojevića 46 81000 Podgorica Montenegro

Project ID 53712

Status Disbursing

Location

Montenegro

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

13 Dec 2022

Disclosure date

09 Dec 2022

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."

Western Balkans GEFF II - NLBP (Montenegrin) (PDF, 0.64MB)

Project description

Project objectives

The loan will support investments in high-performance green technologies, materials and solutions undertaken in privately-owned residential dwellings or buildings. 100 per cent of the use of the proceeds will be eligible to Green Economy Transition ("GET") investments.

Transition impact

ETI Score:80

ject contributes to the overall objectives of WB GEFF II, supporting the Green and Competitive TI qualities.

Green: The project will contribute towards building a green economy by facilitating the expansion of lending for investments into high performance residential green economy technologies. The innovative lines of finance available through local financial institutions will help address the entrenched behaviour and demonstrate a business case for investing in higher performance technologies to end-beneficiaries, partner financial institutions and other market participants, thus creating green investment demand. The allocation to New Dwelling Window will be capped at 30% of the WB GEFF II framework.

Competitive: The project will contribute towards building a more competitive financial sector by strengthening the capacity of NLBP for financing green economy projects. Furthermore, the introduction of lending products based on green economy requirements going beyond prevailing standards will stimulate the development of the market for and supply of high performance green technologies, materials and services.

Client information

NLB BANKA AD PODGORICA

NLB banka AD Podgorica (NLBP) is the second largest universal bank in Montenegro with total assets of EUR 772 mln as of 1H 2022 (market share of 14.1%) owned by NLB dd Ljubljana. In November 2021, NLBP completed the process of merging with Komercijalna banka Podgorica (KBP).

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 2,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 2,000,000.00

Additionality

Additionality is achieved by combining the necessary long-term financing with TC and investment incentives into a package that promotes residential green economy investments in Montenegro. EBRD remains an only international financial institution in the Western Balkans which supports the green transition of the residential sector through intermediary finance in a comprehensive manner.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (2019 ESP). NLBP will be required to implement the Environmental and Social Risk Management Procedures for Micro, SME and Corporate Lending; 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. All sub-loans will be required to comply with national environmental, health, safety and labour (EHSL) requirements. Investments into renewable energy will be required to following the appropriate EBRD Guidelines on renewables. Additionally, should the use of proceeds from EBRD investment be allocated to future solar sub-projects, the project will need to comply with the EBRD Solar Supply Chain Risk Management Approach.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

TC: up to €2.965 million have been set for TC support at the facility level to support both PFIs and sub-borrowers (including individuals, housing collectives, suppliers and vendors of green technologies, and service providers). The objective of the TC is to transfer know-how and raise awareness about investment in modern energy efficiency technologies in the residential building sector to support a green economy transition in the WB. The TC is essential to supporting the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the facility. The TC fund for the proposed transaction is sourced from the SSF and the Government of Austria via HIPCA.

Non-TC: EUR 409,000 for investment incentives to sub-borrowers for the implementation of eligible sub-projects in line with the Policy Statement. The funds are sourced from the EU through the Western Balkans Investment Framework ("WBIF").

Company Contact Information

Marija Kovacevic
marija.kovacevic@nlb.me
+382 20 402 225
+382 20 402 061
www.nlb.me
Stanka Dragojevića 46 81000 Podgorica Montenegro

Implementation summary

PSD last updated

09 Dec 2022

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.

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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Western Balkans GEFF II - NLBP

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

Implementation summary

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)