BRD takes out EUR 30 mln EBRD loan to finance energy efficiency investments

Newsroom 02/04/2012 | 15:33

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provides a financing package up to EUR 30 mln for BRD Groupe Societe Generale to support energy investments by SMEs small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and municipal sector companies.

The financing package extended to BRD-Groupe Societe Generale, second largest bank in Romania, includes an energy efficiency loan of up to EUR 20 million for on-lending to SMEs under the Romanian SME Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (RoSEFF) and a credit line of up to EUR 10 million under the EU/EBRD Municipal Finance Facility.

SMEs can take out loans up to EUR 1 million for investments in projects such as commercial energy efficiency, renewable energy investments or buildings sector energy efficiency. Meanwhile, loans up to EUR 5 million can be taken out by municipalities, municipally-owned companies and private companies providing municipal services to improve the energy 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 Societe Generale, 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.

These two frameworks are being implemented, with the support of grant financing from the EU for technical assistance and the reimbursement grants for sub-borrowers.

Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed close to EUR 5.7 billion in Romania’s economy, triggering additional investments over EUR 10 billion.

Ovidiu Posirca