July 25 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Monday it is providing a 10 million euro loan ($11 million), complemented by technical assistance, to the Bulgarian unit of Greek Piraeus Bank for financing energy efficiency investments in privately owned residential buildings in the country.
The loan is provided under the new extension of the Residential Energy Efficiency Credit Line (REECL), a framework established by the EBRD in 2005, EBRD said in a statement.
"Over the last 10 years, a significant volume of EBRD commercial funding, coupled with technical assistance and grants, has reached small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the wider population through the financial sector," Larisa Manastirli, EBRD director in charge for Bulgaria, said.
Bulgaria’s economy continues to have the highest energy intensity in the EU, the EBRD underlined, elaborating that although the household sector’s share of overall energy consumption is in line with the EU average, around 25%, a significant share of buildings in Bulgaria are not heated to optimal temperatures.
"As Bulgaria works to align its legislation with EU standards, improving energy efficiency is a key element of its energy policy," it noted.
($=0.9103 euro)