By Olga Rosca

Supporting Romanian households to save energy and money, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) are providing financing of up to €15 million(US$18.33million) to UniCredit Consumer Financing (UCFIN), a subsidiary of UniCredit Bank SA, a member of the Italian UniCredit Group.

The loan combines €4 million of concessional funding from TaiwanICDF with €11 million of EBRD finance.

UCFIN will on-lend funds to residential borrowers for investments in green technologies, materials and solutions to improve energy efficiency. Possible investments include energy-efficient technologies for heating, water and electricity as well as additional building enclosures such as walls, windows and roofs.Businesses can identify typical green technologies available in Romania through the Green Technology Selector.

UCFIN is a long-standing partner of the EBRD and a market leader in consumer finance in Romania. This is the second loan UCFIN has received under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) programme, after the successful utilisation of financing provided by the EBRD and TaiwanICDF in 2017.

EBRD Regional Director for Romania and Bulgaria, Mark Davis said: “Access to green finance in Romania remains limited for residential borrowers wishing to make energy efficiency improvements. We are pleased to work with UniCredit Consumer Financing, an experienced partner with a wide presence across Romania. Together we are perfectly placed to increase awareness about green technologies and energy savings for the benefit of the country’s citizens.”

President of the management board of UCFIN, Borislav Genov said: “This is the second loan UCFIN has received under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility programme, after the successful utilisation of the first one, accessed in 2017. With this product, we want to bring our customers closer to what really matters to them and contribute to the transition to a green economy in Romania. The new financing solution from UCFIN offers our customers a very good interest rate for their projects that are improving energy consumption.”

GEFF is part of the EBRD’s recently announced ambitious plan to scale up its climate and environmental finance under the Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, under which the Bank has pledged more than 50 per cent of its annual investments to climate finance by 2025.

The GEFF programme operates through an aggregate network of more than 145 local financial institutions across 27 countries, supported by more than €4.6 billion of EBRD finance for 190,000 clients since it began. These projects have led to annual CO2 emission reductions of more than 8.6 million tonnes to date.

In Romania, where the EBRD is a major investor, the Bank focuses on financing infrastructure, boosting productivity and strengthening the financial sector. To date, the EBRD has invested €8.8 billion in the Romanian economy through 449 projects.