By Nigina Mirbabaeva
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested a record €1.3 billion(US$1.4billion) in Poland in 2023. This beats the previous record of €990 million invested in 2022 and made Poland the EBRD’s third largest market last year.
EBRD Regional Head for Poland the Baltic states Elisabetta Falcetti said: “The EBRD delivered record levels of investment in Poland in 2023, continuing to support our clients amidst challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical circumstances and the continued fallout from the war on Poland’s neighbour Ukraine.
“I am very proud of what our team has been able to achieve,” she continued. “And particularly proud that 100 per cent of our investment has been in Poland’s private sector and three-quarters contributed to Poland’s transition to a low carbon and green economy.”
The Bank signed a number of landmark transactions in 2023. Among them is the Bank’s investment of €140 million for the construction of Poland’s first offshore windfarm, Baltic Power.
The investment is one of several renewable energy projects supported by the EBRD, which will add more than 1.3 GW to Poland’s renewable energy capacity in the short to medium term. Overall, 75 per cent of last year’s investment was provided to low-carbon transition projects, including e-waste recycling and green finance instruments.
The Bank continued to focus on Poland’s capital and financial markets. It signed its first synthetic securitisation deal in Poland with Santander Leasing, supporting the wider adoption of the innovative instrument on the Polish financial market. The EBRD also supported systemic banks such as Bank Pekao and Santander Bank Polska in raising finance on the local debt capital market by participating in the issuance of their first PLN-denominated senior non-preferred bonds on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
As a reflection of the robust performance of Poland’s private sector, the Bank also signed five direct equity deals. Among them are Poland’s leading pharmaceutical company Pelion (€25 million), integrated renewable energy developer R.Power (€75 million), and banking technology provider Vodeno (€50 million).
With record investment levels, the Bank’s total commitment to Poland since 1991 has reached €13.9 billion, of which 92 per cent has been in the form of debt or equity in private sector companies.
