December 19 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Wednesday lent five million euro ($7.2 million) to United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), majority owned by the National Bank of Greece (NBG), to help finance energy efficiency projects in Bulgaria, EBRD said in a statement.
The five million loan for UBB is part of a joint programme of the European Commission and EBRD for credits totalling up to 100 million euro to banks that grant loans for energy projects in Bulgaria and Romania, the statement added. Both countries joined the EU in January.
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“Signing [the agreement for the loan], UBB showed that it continues to be one of our strategic partners in promoting energy efficiency projects in Bulgaria,” EBRD Director for Bulgaria James Hyslop said.
The loans under the EC/EBRD programme are expected to overcome obstacles that still exist in Bulgaria to investing in energy efficiency projects, EBRD said. Financing the investments through the bank system will enable the money to reach a broad spectrum of companies in the private industry sector.
By financing various investments, EBRD supports the drive of the Bulgarian government to improve energy efficiency. The latest projects include bank loans to fund hydro power plants, loans for energy efficiency projects in the household and in industry and to support the trade in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under renewable energy projects.
EBRD is among the largest investors in Bulgaria with some 1.5 billion euro commited for projects across the European Union newcomer. Together with its partners the bank has attracted over 5.8 billion euro for projects in Bulgaria. UBB ranked Bulgaria’s third largest bank by assets at the end of October. Bulgaria has 24 domestically registered banks and the branches of five foreign banks.
($=0.6953 euro)