September 7 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday it is providing a loan of up to 600 million dinars ($5.9 million/5.1 million euro) to lender UniCredit to enhance its financing of the green economy in Serbia.
The funds will be on-lent for investments in high-performance energy efficiency technologies, materials and solutions in residential buildings, in order to reduce energy intensity and improve energy efficiency in accordance with the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, the EBRD said in a statement.
UniCredit will approve consumer loans of up to 3 million dinars on a repayment period of up to seven years in Serbia. The incentive is up to 20% of the investment. The nominal interest rate is 9.11% annually while the effective interest rate is 10.82% annually.
"We are pleased to further our cooperation with our long-standing partner, UniCredit, by offering a green financing line. Not only will it help Serbian families cut energy bills and reduce emissions, but it is also our first project with UniCredit which will provide loans in local currency," Zsuzsanna Hargitai, EBRD Director for the Western Balkans, said.
The loan comes under the EBRD's 85 million euro ($98.4 million) Green Economy Financing Facility for the Western Balkans, implemented in partnership with the Secretariat of the Energy Community. The initiative is designed to help local households, housing associations and service providers invest in energy efficiency measures and renewable energy projects.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. To date it has committed 982 million euro to almost 60 green projects across the country. In 2017 alone the Bank provided over 380 million euro to more than 200 projects across various sectors of the Serbian economy.
(1 euro = 118.294 dinars)
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