EBRD and InvestEU

The EBRD is one of the main partners of the InvestEU Programme. It is run by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, and supports sustainable investment, innovation and job creation in Europe. It aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027.

The programme comprises three main building blocks: 

• the InvestEU Fund, which provides an EU guarantee to support the financing of, and investment in, internal EU policy objectives
• the InvestEU Advisory Hub, which supports project development, access to finance and capacity building
• the InvestEU Portal, which promotes projects seeking finance and information on investment opportunities.

The EBRD’s role

The EBRD works with the European Commission (EC) to promote investments in sustainable infrastructure, the green economy and digitalisation, as well as innovation and research in the EU. Between 2022 and 2027 InvestEU guarantees worth €450 million will be leveraged by the EBRD to finance investments of up to €2.1 billion in eligible sectors.
The Programme supports activities in EU member states where the EBRD invests, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak and Slovenia. 

InvestEU Advisory Hub 

With up to €60 million in funding from the the InvestEU Advisory Hub, the EBRD is able to provide technical assistance to project developers, corporates and intermediaries to help with project preparation and implementation, policy dialogue, market development and capacity building. 

Eligible sectors

• Sustainable infrastructure, including transport (for example, the TEN-T network), e-mobility and clean transport, renewable energy generation and grids, the circular economy, sustainable agriculture and agribusiness, energy efficiency and low carbon technologies in industry and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), just transition, building sector and tourism (for example, building renovation and efficient new buildings), digital connectivity, clean water, district heating and cooling, other municipal and environmental infrastructure, and climate adaptation and resilience.
• Social investment and skills, including projects in affordable housing, health infrastructure, hospitals, healthcare and social enterprise.
• Research, innovation and digitalisation, including projects in health and life sciences (for example, therapeutics, diagnostics and other novel solutions for health systems) and more.

The EBRD offers various products to its clients in the infrastructure, corporate and financial sectors:

Direct financing products (general and thematic product) 

These are direct loans to clients, with an InvestEU guarantee as first loss coverage. 

• Eligible beneficiaries: private sector companies, including SMEs, small mid-caps, large mid-caps and large corporates; public sector companies, municipalities and public-private partnerships. Final recipients must be established in at least one EU member state and operate in the EU countries where the EBRD invests (see list above).
• Eligible project types: projects falling under one of the above-mentioned sectors. The thematic product covers only investments in sustainable infrastructure or research innovation and digitalisation with particularly high-level risk.
• Key guarantee terms: these depend on the type of final recipient, financial barriers and level of impact achieved. The thematic debt product offers more concessional terms to enable highly innovative projects or address more severe financial constraints.  

Intermediated financing products 

These include unfunded uncapped or capped portfolio guarantees to financial intermediaries to support portfolios of newly generated transactions financing eligible projects. 
 
Eligible financial intermediaries: majority privately-owned commercial banks and leasing companies operating in the EU countries where the EBRD invests (see list above). Financial intermediaries must be established and operating in at least one EU member state.

Green Uncapped Portfolio Guarantee

• Eligible project types: energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in buildings, and sustainable transport.
• Eligible final recipients: individuals; private enterprises (including SMEs, mid-caps and large companies, housing associations or similar organisations, relevant service providers such as energy service companies, companies that either invest in or construct buildings, and so on); public sector entities; and mixed entities, such as public-private partnerships and private companies with a public purpose.

Green Capped Portfolio Guarantee

• Green projects across industry sectors: sustainable transport; clean energy transition; transition to the circular economy; industrial modernisation and decarbonisation; sustainable tourism; and biodiversity/nature-based solutions/green infrastructure.
• Eligible final recipients: private enterprises (including SMEs, mid-caps and large companies); public sector entities; and mixed entities, such as public-private partnerships and private companies with a public purpose.
• Portfolio guarantee cap: 35 per cent.

In addition, dedicated financial products in two EU countries of operations – Greece and Romania –will be deployed through financial intermediaries (under the specific Member State Compartment of InvestEU).