TIRANA (Albania), February 25 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is providing a 5.0 million euro ($5.4 million) loan to Albania’s Banka OTP for on-lending to borrowers with green investment plans for their homes.
Owners of residential buildings in Albania will benefit from more finance to be invested in energy efficiency measures thanks to the EBRD loan, the lender said in a statement on Monday, after the bank’s director of financial institutions for the Western Balkans, Henry Russell, and chief executive officer of OTP Albania Bledar Shella signed the loan agreement.
Successful projects are eligible for a cash-back payment of up to 20% of the investment value.
The new financing for Albania is provided under the EBRD’s 85 million euro Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF). The programme is a joint initiative of the EU, the Austrian federal ministry of finance and beneficiary countries cooperating under the WBIF and is implemented under the umbrella of the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme for the Western Balkans (REEP Plus), funded by the EU and implemented in partnership with the Energy Community Secretariat.
To date, the EBRD has signed 30 billion euro in green investments, financed over 1,600 green projects and reduced global carbon emissions by over 100 million tonnes.
The EBRD has invested around 1.4 billion euro in Albania through almost 96 projects so far.
($ = 0.92283 euro)