EBRD/GEF Environmental Credit Facility (formerly entitled Slovenia: National Pollution Reduction Project)

Within the framework of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and the GEF Strategic Partnership on the Danube/Black Sea Basin, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in co-operation with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is proposing the creation of a new Credit Facility in Slovenia. The primary objective of the Facility will be the reduction of nutrient load in the Danube river basin but it will also finance reductions in other water pollutants, primarily toxic substances. The main focus will be on industries, small and mid-sized municipalities, and large livestock farms to reduce their impact on surface and groundwater. The Facility will build on the work of the Slovenian government to meet the highest European environmental standards, and on the basin-wide efforts of ICPDR and other GEF projects. It will contribute to the implementation of these policies by bringing in new investment financing, channelled by local commercial banks to the private and municipal sectors, and softened with GEF grant funding. The implementation of the Credit Facility will be facilitated by a Technical Assistance component. Within the GEF International Waters Focal Area, the innovative element of the project is a design that is based on a partnership between financial intermediaries and private enterprises to disburse financial resources aiming at reducing water pollution. The project will focus on Slovenia but aims at creating a replicable model that could subsequently be implemented in other Danube basin countries. A US$ 9 million GEF grant will be blended with a US$ 45 million EBRD loan to support the Credit Facility which will be on-lent to commercial banks who will in turn channel loans in response to client demand. An additional US$ 0.907 million of GEF funding, supported by US$ 0.842 million of co-financing, will be used to support technical assistance activities. ______________________________________________________________________________