EBRD finances green investments at Poland’s Millennium Leasing

PLN 300 million loan to Millennium Leasing
Funds will finance energy and resource efficiency, renewable energy, water and waste management sub-projects
EBRD dedicated to promoting innovative green finance

The EBRD is providing a loan of PLN 300 million (€71 million equivalent) to Millennium Leasing Sp. z o.o., a subsidiary of Poland’s Bank Millennium S.A.. Millennium Leasing will use the proceeds to provide leasing finance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland’s private sector, which will help them increase energy and resource efficiency, install renewable energy generation, and improve their management of water and waste. The funds will allow Millennium Leasing to introduce financing for resource efficiency products (water and materials). All of the sub-loans will be provided on a fully commercial basis, proving that green investments now make financial sense for companies as well as for the environment. The eligible sub-projects will cover a broad spectrum of technologies and will be selected according to technical, financial and environmental eligibility criteria.

Millennium Leasing is part of Bank Millennium Capital Group and is the eighth-largest leasing company in Poland, with around €720 million in net asset value financed in 2017. Millennium Leasing specialises in the financing of machinery, equipment and vehicles (light and heavy transport).

The loan is the second project under a special EBRD programme of support for green leasing in Poland, known as the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) for Leasing in Poland, which is part of the Bank’s Green Economy Transition approach. The Bank is a leader in working with private sector financial institutions, providing regional banks with finance for sustainability projects. The EBRD provides GEFFs to local banks in 25 of the 38 economies where it operates, and finances sustainability projects directly in all its markets.

The Bank’s Green Economy Transition approach is a flagship initiative that covers investments from renewable energy to green bonds, where high standards of energy and resource efficiency are applied.

The EBRD started working in Poland in 1991 and to date has invested €9 billion in 403 projects. The Bank’s new country strategy for Poland identifies enhancing competitiveness through innovation, promoting the green economy and strengthening economic resilience as the key priorities.