The EBRD is providing a €15mn loan to Raiffeisen, which will be used to fund Bulgarian SMEs developing sustainable energy projects.

The loan is being provided under the EBRD’s Bulgarian energy efficiency for competitive industry finance facility, making it eligible for EU funding.

Daniel Berg, EBRD director, Bulgaria, comments: “There continues to be strong demand for these innovative products which combine grants and loans to facilitate energy efficiency investments. However, we continue our dialogue with the government to ensure incentives for investing in energy efficiency are strong.”

The EBRD has made several loans to support Bulgarian industry in recent months. The most recent was an €85mn loan to Société Générale’s Bulgarian subsidiaries, which was lent on to local SMEs.

The second consisted of a number of loans, totalling €60mn, made to two Eastern European metals firms for expansion or restarting of production.