First tranche in Tajikistan within the climate resilience credit line

Bank Eskhata, a long-standing partner of the EBRD, becomes the first bank to join the new Climate Resilience Credit Line, recently launched in Tajikistan.

This new credit line facility will combine commercial and concessional funding to scale up the financing of projects resulting in climate change resilience. Additionally, the clients will be offered advisory package to assess the best technological solutions.

The funds are on-lent in local currency to SME clients and households to help them adopt technologies and practices to reduce soil erosion and pressure on water and energy resources, both of which are key environmental threats in Tajikistan.

The loan in local Somoni equivalent to $3 million will be 50 per cent lent by the EBRD and 50 per cent by the Pilot Programme Climate Resilience (PPCR), a funding window of the multilateral Climate Investment Funds.

Advisory package will support the credit line implementation. It is provided to Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) and their clients to achieve sustainable results. The advisory package is financed by the EBRD and the UK government through its Department for International Development (DFID).

Bank Eskhata is Tajikistan’s fifth largest bank by assets, part-owned by the EBRD, and with a particular focus on SME financing and support.

The EBRD is already running successful credit lines on energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy in most of its countries of operations. Ahead of the COP21 climate talks in Paris, the EBRD adopted new higher targets for climate financing and is aiming to invest 40 per cent of its annual volume into sustainable resource projects by 2020.