The FINANCIAL — The EBRD is continuing to promote energy efficiency in Romania with a financing package of up to €30 million for BRD Groupe Société Générale.
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to support sustainable energy investments by small and medium-sized enterprises and municipal sector companies.
Majority-owned by Société Générale Group, BRD – Groupe Société Générale is the second largest bank in Romania, with a country-wide network of branches, servicing corporates, SMEs, municipalities and retail customers.
The EBRD financing will be used to support SMEs with loans of up to €1 million for investments in projects such as commercial energy efficiency investments, stand-alone small scale renewable energy investments, buildings sector energy efficiency and renewable energy investments, as well as investment for eligible manufacturers, suppliers and installers of energy efficiency and renewable energy technology, equipment and materials.
The Bank’s funds will also support, with loans of up to €5 million, investments made by municipalities, municipally-owned companies and private companies providing municipal services thus enabling them to improve the energy performance of municipal infrastructure, including buildings.
“Compared with their counterparts in western Europe, Romanian enterprises and municipalities spend a larger percentage of their overall costs on energy bills. The EBRD financing, extended through BRD Groupe Société Générale, will enable private businesses and municipalities to implement projects that will reduce their energy intensity, and strengthen their competitiveness and operational efficiency,” said Sylvia Gansser-Potts, EBRD Director for Financial Institutions, EU Banks.
“This new agreement with the EBRD confirms BRD’s commitment towards supporting the modernisation of the Romanian economy and local communities through more efficient ways of energy saving. Becoming more efficient in using energy – a resource that becomes ever more expensive and rare – is key to Romania’s development”, said Guy Poupet, BRD-Groupe Société Générale Chairman and CEO.
The financing package extended to BRD-Groupe Société Générale includes an energy efficiency loan of up to €20 million for on-lending to SMEs under the Romanian SME Sustainable Energy Financing Facility and a credit line of up to €10 million under the EU/EBRD Municipal Finance Facility.
These two frameworks are being implemented, with the support of grant financing from the European Union for technical assistance and the reimbursement grants for sub-borrowers.
Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed close to €5.7 billion to various sectors of the country’s economy, mobilising additional investment of over €10 billion.
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