EBRD to lend Azerbaijan $125 mln for energy efficiency projects

(Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched an energy loan project, which envisages lending $125 million for energy efficiency projects in Azerbaijan, Neil McKain, the head of the EBRD office in Azerbaijan, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

 The project is aimed at increasing energy efficiency in  small businesses and households.

Other energy loan donors include the EC and the Austrian Finance Ministry, McKain said. The mechanism is part of the Caucasus Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP), which was launched in 2007.

Two Azerbaijani banks - Demirbank and Muganbank - have already signed an agreement with the EBRD within the framework of the project to raise $5 million and $3 million, respectively.

"The bank wants to use the money for business loans and consumer loans," Demirbank spokesman Anar Mamedov said at the press conference.

Muganbank Retail Banking and International Finance Institutes Director Elnur Abbasov said the money raised would fund its first two projects before the end of 2014.

Unibank International Relations Supervisor Zokhrab Gadirov said the bank plans to raise $2 million from the EBRD this year.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the EBRD since 1992. The EBRD has approved financing for 146 projects in Azerbaijan, in which it has invested $2.5 billion. Since 2006, the EBRD has allocated $288 million on 11 energy efficiency projects.