Western Balkans GEFF II - Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje II

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 1.0 million to Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje under the Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility II (WB GEFF II).

Project ID 54619

Status Disbursing

Location

North Macedonia

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

Milka Ratajkoska - Joleska
milka.rataikoskajoleska@sparkasse.mk
+389 2 3167714
www.sparkasse.mk
Vasil Iljoski 14, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

Project ID 54619

Status Disbursing

Location

North Macedonia

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

27 Jun 2023

Disclosure date

30 Jun 2023

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 - Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje II (Macedonian) (PDF, 0.55MB)

Project description

Senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 1.0 million to Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje under the Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility II (WB GEFF II).

Project objectives

This facility will support investments in high-performance green technologies, materials and solutions undertaken in privately owned residential dwellings or buildings. The sub-projects will be selected according to technical and financial eligibility criteria set forth in the Policy Statement for WB GEFF II. 100% of proceeds will finance green investments.

Transition impact

ETI Score:80

ong>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.

Competitive: The project will contribute towards building a more competitive financial sector by increasing the capacity of the partner financial institutions for financing green economy projects.

Client information

SPARKASSE BANK MACEDONIJA AD SKOPJE

Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje ("SBS") is a universal commercial bank and the 4th largest bank in North Macedonia, with 12.1% market share by total assets. It is 96.6% owned by Steiermarkische Bank und Sparkassen AG, Austria.

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 1,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 1,000,000.00

Additionality

Additionality is achieved by combining the necessary long-term financing via Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje with technical cooperation and investment incentives into a package that promotes residential green economy investments in North Macedonia.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (ESP 2019). SBS is an existing client and was issued a waiver in May 2022 to comply with EBRD's E&S covenants by the next reporting period. Since the waiver, SBS has met all of the E&S covenants. SBS hired E&S staff, assigned E&S responsibilities to an individual in senior management, and integrated EBRD's PR 9 criteria for Corporate, SME and Micro Loans into its lending policy. Senior management have undergone EBRD's E&S e-learning programme. SBS will continue to send annual E&S reports to the Bank. Sub-borrowers financed through SBS's loan will be required to comply with national environmental, health, safety and labour (EHSL) requirements. The Project's use of proceeds may include solar sub-projects. Such sub-projects will be managed in line with 'The Proposed Management Approach for Solar Supply Chain Risk Management' (CS/FO/21-35), (CS/FO/21-35 (Add 2)) and any subsequent guidance developed under that approach. SBS will be required to continue complying with PRs 2, 4 and 9 and fully comply with the EBRD E&S Exclusion List and FI Referral list introduced with ESP 2019.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Technical cooperation (TC): Up to EUR 2.965 million have been set for technical cooperation at the Facility level to support both partner financial institutions and sub-borrowers (including individuals, housing collectives, suppliers and vendors of green technologies, and service providers). The objective of the technical cooperation 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 Western Balkans. The TC is essential to supporting the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the Facility. The TC is provided by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and the Government of Austria via the High Impact Partnership for Climate Action.

Non-TC: WB GEFF II will also be supported by non-TC funds of up to EUR 9.63 million to be provided by the EU via the European Western Balkans Joint Fund for investment incentives payments to sub-borrowers for the implementation of eligible sub-projects in line with the levels and eligibility criteria as set forth in the Policy Statement of the Facility.

Company Contact Information

Milka Ratajkoska - Joleska
milka.rataikoskajoleska@sparkasse.mk
+389 2 3167714
www.sparkasse.mk
Vasil Iljoski 14, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

PSD last updated

30 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 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.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

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 - Sparkasse Bank AD Skopje II

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

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)