RSF - Union Bank - Crimson Finance Fund Albania (CFFA)

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

The proceeds of the loan will be utilised for the expansion of CFFA's lending activities, which are expected to further support MSMEs in Albania.

Project ID 53837

Status Signed

Location

Albania

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Dorin Rama
dorin.rama@crimsoncapital.org
+355 4 450 03 85
www.cffa.al
Rr. Bardhok Biba, Godina e Vjeter Tirana, Hyrja 1, Kati 2, Tirane

Project ID 53837

Status Signed

Location

Albania

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

06 Sep 2022

Disclosure date

05 Oct 2022

As permitted by paragraph 2.6 of Section III of the Access to Information Policy, disclosure of this PSD was deferred in accordance with paragraph 1.4.4 of the Directive on Access to Information.

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

RSF - Union Bank - Crimson Finance Fund Albania (CFFA) (Albanian) (PDF, 1.02MB)

Project description

The proceeds of the loan will be utilised for the expansion of CFFA's lending activities, which are expected to further support MSMEs in Albania.

Project objectives

The Project is consistent with the Strategy for Albania (BDS/AL/19-01 (Rev 1)), in that "the Bank will enhance private sector competitiveness and inclusion through wider access to finance and skills including indirect financing and risk sharing through financial institutions".

Transition impact

ETI Score:75

trong>Competitive: The project helps an SME (confirmed as an SME or SME Plus, according to EBRD's definition) in a country with Large SME gaps access financing to support their operations.

- Resilient: The Partner Bank (Union Bank) will benefit from capital relief (recognised by the local central bank) on the full amount guaranteed by the EBRD which will enable it to expand lending.

Client information

CRIMSON FINANCE FUND ALBANIA

Crimson Finance Fund Albania ("CFFA" or the "Borrower") is a non-bank financial institution; licensed by the Bank of Albania ("BoA") since 2015, and targeting investments to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Albania. It currently offers four types of products: (i) term loans, which cover most of the needs of business activity, (ii) lines of credit, (iii) financial leasing, and (iv) factoring.

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 500,000.00

Under the Risk Sharing Framework (the "RSF"), EBRD will guarantee for up to 36 months up to 50% of the EUR 1.0m senior amortising loan (the "RSF sub-project") of Union Bank to finance CFFA's plans for the expansion of its lending portfolio.

Total project cost

EUR 1,000,000.00

Additionality

Under RSF, additionality stems from the following:

EBRD offers an innovative financing structure (e.g. mezzanine financing, risk sharing, etc.) on commercial terms not available from other banks: risk participation to help partner banks with capital and liquidity constraints.
EBRD offers a tenor, which is above the market average and is necessary to structure the project.
EBRD offers local currency financing on terms not readily available in the market.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (2019 ESP) and Low Risk. The partner bank has carried out environmental and social due diligence on client's operations and the project by using E&S checklist. The ESDD showed that the Client is in compliance with national environmental, health, safety and labour requirements as well as this transaction is associated with low E&S risks. The partner bank will be required to ensure that the client complies with national E&S laws and with EBRD's PRs 2, 4 and 9 by adopting the EBRD's E&S Risk Management Procedures for Corporate, SME and Micro Loans including adherence to the EBRD E&S Exclusion List. Union Bank will be required to continue submitting annual environmental and social reports to the Bank. The Physical Climate risk score of the project is 3. Therefore, the counterparty can be considered to be low risk and no second stage assessment is required. There is no GET component associated with this project.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

None.

Company Contact Information

Dorin Rama
dorin.rama@crimsoncapital.org
+355 4 450 03 85
www.cffa.al
Rr. Bardhok Biba, Godina e Vjeter Tirana, Hyrja 1, Kati 2, Tirane

PSD last updated

05 Oct 2022

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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RSF - Union Bank - Crimson Finance Fund Albania (CFFA)

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)