EBRD allocates $ 5 m loan for green financing of SMEs in Kazakhstan

13 / 12 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting green financing in Kazakhstan by offering new funds to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that are planning to invest in energy-saving solutions. Shinhan Bank Kazakhstan (SBK) becomes the latest financial institution in the country to join the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF).

SBK, a fully owned subsidiary of Shinhan Bank Korea, will receive a senior loan of up to $ 5 million in KZT equivalent under GEFF designed to support domestic SMEs ready to invest in climate mitigation and adaptation technologies and services.

The financing will be supported by grant funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Austria. The GEFF is fully in line with the EBRD’s target of making half of its annual investment green by 2025 and compliant with the goals of the Paris Agreement by early 2023.

The GEFF program is part of the Bank’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. It operates through a network of more than 150 local financial institutions across 27 countries, supported by around €5 billion of EBRD finance. To date more than 200,000 GEFF investments have collectively helped avoid annual CO₂ emissions of approximately 9 million tons.