• Erste Bank Serbia becomes first local partner to receive RSD 600 million loan for boosting energy efficiency.
• Programme to support investments in private homes to improve energy performance and generate savings.
• Finance provided under EBRD €85 million Green Economy Financing Facility for the Western Balkans.

Erste Bank Serbia has become the first Serbian bank to receive EBRD financing for home energy efficiency through a RSD 600 million (equivalent to €5 million) loan for on-lending to residential clients.

The loan comes under the EBRD €85 million Green Energy Financing Facility for the Western Balkans, implemented in partnership with the Energy Community Secretariat. The initiative is designed to help local households, housing associations and service providers invest in energy efficiency measures and renewable energy projects.

Incentives and technical cooperation in support of green technology investments will be provided by the European Union, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the European Western Balkans Joint Fund under the Western Balkans Investment Framework.

Erste Bank’s energy efficiency loans are aimed at citizens planning to invest in energy efficient solutions for their homes, such as replacing windows or doors, façade retrofitting, procuring heating equipment or thermal insulation material, photovoltaic panels, heat pumps, energy-saving lighting and other measures resulting in increased efficiency and savings.

EBRD green financing rose from €2.8 billion in 2016 to €4.1 billion in 2017, accounting for 43 per cent of total annual bank investment.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. To date it has invested €4.7 billion across some 200 projects in the country. In 2017 alone the Bank provided over €380 million to more than 20 projects across various sectors of the Serbian economy.