EBRD boosts green finance for Serbian SMEs and cities

EBRD boosts green finance for Serbian SMEs and cities

Private businesses, including energy service companies (ESCO) and municipalities will benefit from wider access to finance thanks to a EUR 15 million loan that the EBRD is providing to Banca Intesa, the largest bank in Serbia. The loan will be on-lent for energy efficiency investments.

Businesses and municipalities will be able to take out loans from Banca Intesa specifically for green technology solutions such as lighting upgrades, new production equipment, building insulation, solar PV panels and biomass boilers.

The loan is extended under the second phase of the Western Balkans Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (WeBSEFF II), a program that provides credit lines to partner banks in the Western Balkans for on-lending to businesses and municipalities keen to invest in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy projects.

WeBSEFF II is complemented by project preparation support and investment incentives funded by the European Union (EU) through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. The program was designed and implemented in close partnership with the Energy Community Secretariat.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested EUr 4.7 billion across some 200 projects in the country to date. In 2017 alone the Bank provided over €380 million to more than 20 projects across various sectors of the Serbian economy.

The credit line is part of the EBRD Green Economy Transition approach. Since 2006, the EBRD has committed over EUR 26 billion to projects supporting the transition of the 38 economies where it currently invests to a greener economy.