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Small Russian Town Welcomes Winter with a Brand New Boiler House
In 2005, IFC launched the Russia Sustainable Energy Finance Program to stimulate investments in energy efficiency by supporting financial institutions in building a sustainable energy finance product for small and medium enterprises. One of IFC’s partner banks in the Northwest region of Russia - Bank Prime Finance - had trained its credit officers and adjusted its underwriting process to better finance energy efficiency projects, with IFC’s support. | ||
| Based on IFC’s criteria for energy efficiency projects, Bank Prime Finance issued a loan to EnergoStroy in the amount of $513,000 to carry out the construction of the boiler house. The urgency and the social impact of the project were high. The boiler house had to be completed quickly, before the cold winter season began, in order to ensure a stable supply of heating and hot water for a settlement of 6, 000 residents. It was also very important for the administration of Nevskaya Dubrovka to build an independent boiler-house in order to avoid a heating collapse in the future. In addition to social and environmental considerations, there was also a high potential for cost savings. The municipal administration of Nevskaya Dubrovka was able to realize energy savings up to $185,000 per year - a considerable sum given the size of that municipality. The project was a success; building on its experience in the municipality of Nevskaya Dubrovka, Prime Finance Bank is now helping to promote sustainable energy finance across the broader Northwest region of Russia. This is just one of many examples where Russian banks, having IFC advisory support, are helping to improve energy efficiency in Russia’s municipalities. Since it’s launch, the IFC Russia Sustainable Energy Finance Program has facilitated $180 million in almost 200 energy efficiency projects. IFC helped eleven Russian financial institutions to develop sustainable energy finance products and enabled savings of $31 million per year in energy costs for Russian enterprises. The avoidance of greenhouse gas emission as a result of these efforts is 435,000 tons of CO2 per year. The IFC Russia Sustainable Energy Finance Program is supported with funds from the Global Environment Facility, the Danish Energy Agency, Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy. To learn more about the IFC Russia Sustainable Energy Finance Program click here. About Prime Finance Bank Prime Finance Bank was established in 1994 in St. Petersburg, Russia, as a local privately owned bank. The bank has 2, 000 private clients and over 3,000 corporate and SME clients. Since 2010, the bank has been a client of the IFC Russia Sustainable Energy Finance Program. IFC’s advisory work with Prime Finance Bank was recognized by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) which established an environmental fund for sustainable energy finance in the SME sector. The fund in the amount of EUR 2.2 million will consist of EUR 1 million to be provided by NEFCO and EUR 1.2 million to be provided by Prime Finance Bank. | ||
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