EBRD extends €50 mln loan to Bank Millennium

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland will benefit from a €50 million loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Bank Millennium for on-lending to entrepreneurs who are seeking to reduce their energy costs with new and more efficient equipment. Millennium Leasing, a subsidiary of Bank Millennium, will use at least 70 percent of the proceeds of the EBRD loan to finance sustainable energy projects by Polish SMEs, while the remaining 30 percent will be used for the financing of equipment, light commercial vehicles, and trucks and trailers used by the enterprises. The loan is being provided under the SME-focused Polish Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (PolSEFF) for Leasing which is the first sustainable energy financing framework without grants on the Polish market. PolSEFF was launched in 2010 for energy efficiency improvements as the Polish economy remains highly energy and carbon intensive, with the carbon intensity almost twice the European average.