The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution created following the Cold War, recently loaned EUR 2 million (USD 2.3 million) to Kreditimi Rural i Kosoves (KRK), a microfinance institution primarily serving the agriculture sector and low-income individuals in Kosovo. As part of EBRD’s Green Economy Transition (GET) policy, the loan will support residential investment in technologies that lower energy usage and carbon emissions.
The loan was disbursed from EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) for the Western Balkans, which has funded 120 retail financial institutions, reportedly preventing 6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. GEFF is funded by the EU and the governments of about 20 European countries, including via the Western Balkans Investment Framework.
Charlotte Ruhe, the EBRD Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, said, “With KRK our efforts to support green investments will achieve a much wider outreach…This is particularly important as energy efficiency and energy savings are crucial for Kosovo’s further sustainable growth and development.”
KRK was established in 2000 to assist farmers and other rural microentrepreneurs in restoring production capacity lost during the Kosovo war of 1998 and 1999. The institution offers products such as agricultural and business loans to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) as well as home-improvement loans to private individuals. As of 2015, KRK reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD 16 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 15 million, 7,700 borrowers, return on assets of 14 percent and return on equity of 43 percent.
Founded in 1991 with a focus on “the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative,” EBRD invested EUR 9.4 billion (USD 10.1 billion) in companies in 35 countries during 2016.
By Aleks Marceau, Research Associate
Sources and additional resources:
EBRD press release:
http://www.ebrd.com/news/2017/ebrd-invests-in-green-economy-project-in-kosovo.html
EBRD home page:
http://www.ebrd.com/home
GEFF home page:
https://ebrdgeff.com
KRK home page:
http://krk-ks.com
Western Balkans Investment Framework
https://wbif.eu/
MicroCapital on EBRD’s work in Armenia:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-ebrd-loans-local-currency-totalling-10m-araratbank-armenia-targeting-women-owned-rural-smes/
MicroCapital on KRK:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-european-fund-for-southeast-europe-efse-announces-1-7m-senior-loan-to-kreditimi-rural-i-kosoves-krk-for-microfinance-in-rural-kosovo/
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