Project Description
Up to EUR 35 million senior secured loan to Stomana Industry AD ("Stomana", or the "Company").
Project Objectives
The proceeds of the loan will be used to finance the Company's medium term decarbonisation strategy including energy and water efficiency, quality and cost optimization measures as well as elimination of production bottlenecks. As part of the Project, Stomana will also install at its production site a PV electricity generation capacity for own use of up to 10MW to further decarbonise its operations.
Transition Impact
ETI score: 60
Green: the Project entails investments towards modernisation of production equipment and auxiliary infrastructure resulting in significant energy efficiency and environmental improvements including with regards to the plant's water sourcing, treatment and recirculation infrastructure. The Project is aligned with EBRD's Green Economy Transition ("GET") approach, with 79% of the loan proceeds being utilised towards GET-eligible investments.
Client Information
STOMANA INDUSTRY AD
Stomana Industry AD, a joint stock company incorporated in Bulgaria, is a producer of a wide range of steel products for various sectors, sourcing 100% of its output from recycled steel scrap.
EBRD Finance Summary
EUR 35,000,000.00
Senior secured loan of up to 7 years tenor, including (i) EUR 25,000,000.00 Committed Tranche, and (ii) EUR 10,000,000.00 Uncommitted Tranche, to be committed at the Bank's sole discretion.
Total Project Cost
EUR 57,300,000.00
Additionality
The additionality of the EBRD financing includes financing structure and standard-setting: helping the client obtain long-term financing at reasonable terms, as well as go beyond the national/EU environmental legislation and ensure long-term EU Taxonomy compliance, specifically addressing substantial contribution for climate change mitigation.
Environmental and Social Summary
Category (B ESP 2019). Key environmental and social issues relate to the operations of the plant and scrap facilities and ensuring compliance with EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) as well as health and safety and labour standards.
The Bank has undertaken an independent Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) of the Project which included a review of corporate Envrionmental, Social and Governance (ESG) management systems. The ongoing ESDD and preliminary reports indicated that the Project is structured to meet the Bank Performance Requirements (PRs) and the Company has the institutional capacity to fully implement the Bank's PRs and comply with Good Industry Practices (GIP) and EU requirements. The Company operates a number of facilities and the ESDD has confirmed that these are well managed and maintained in compliance with national legislation. The Company has a robust Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) management system and is preparing to implement and adhere to EU environmental regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporates Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requirements. The Consultants have undertaken a review of corporate management and reporting systems and confirmed that the Company is on track to meet the requirements post 2025. The Bank will require the Company to fully adhere to the CSRD and CSDDD in the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP).
In terms of the operations the ESDD has confirmed that the Company is in compliance with national and EU requirements inclusive of EU Industrial Emission Directive (IED) and BAT, although some additional investment may be required to ensure ongoing compliance and these will be included in the ESAP under development. The collection of scrap and processing of scrap can be associated with a number of health and safety as well as labour issues and the supply chain assessment is important to ensure that sourcing of scrap is well managed.
The ongoing ESDD has confirmed that the Company has good labour management systems and no material issues of non-compliance have been identified. Nevertheless the Company will need to strengthen some of the oversights in line with requirements as set out under the CSRD and relevant European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
The Project will not be associated with resettlement or livelihood loss and is not located in an ecologically sensitive area.
The ongoing ESDD has confirmed that Project is Paris aligned for climate mitigation as the counterparty's operational activities make a substantial contribution to climate mitigation objectives which is in line with the specific criteria set out in the EU Taxonomy and confirmed during the external ESDD. In specific, the Company produces carbon steel and uses over 90% steel scrap input relative to product output. The Project is deemed not significantly exposed to physical climate risks and is considered Paris aligned for climate adaptation.
Based on the ESDD an ESAP and Non-Technical Summary (NTS) will be developed and agreed with the Company prior to Board submission.
The PSD will be updated once the ESDD is complete and ESAP agreed on.
Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing
None
Company Contact Information
Georgios Bourniotis
gbourniotis@stomana.bg
www.stomana.bg
1 Vladaysko Vastanie str., 2300 Pernik, Bulgaria
Implementation summary
PSD last updated
09 Jun 2023
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 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 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.
