Greek & Romanian Corp. Sustainable Bond Framework

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

A regional Greek and Romanian Corporate Sustainable bond Framework, which will a) signal the Bank's continued commitment to develop the local Greek and Romanian corporate bond markets; b) assist corporates of all sizes, including SMEs and midcaps, to access or retain regular access to the international and domestic capital markets for financing needs at a time when access to debt capital markets is extremely challenging, even more so for sub-investment grade corporates; c) encourage issuers to issue Sustainable Bonds in order to advance their transition towards a low-carbon economy; d) provide first time issuers with an intermediary step towards Sustainable Bonds issuance by supporting plain vanilla bonds with GET-eligible Green use of proceeds; e) uphold best Sustainable Bond market standards and support improved transparency and disclosure on green use of proceeds and KPIs; e) attract additional investors with ESG focus, thereby adding to depth and liquidity to the market; and f) demonstrate to potential investors the viability of new issues.

Project ID 54217

Status Approved

Location

Regional

Business Sector

Manufacturing and Services

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

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

Project ID 54217

Status Approved

Location

Regional

Business Sector

Manufacturing and Services

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

31 May 2023

Disclosure date

27 Apr 2023

Project description

Project objectives

The goal of the Framework is dual and seeks to support Greek and Romanian corporates of all sizes in both raising funds efficiently using debt capital market infrastructure and in developing their use of the Sustainable Bonds ("SBs") products in order to enable the implementation of their ESG objectives and achieve their Low Carbon Pathway strategies. The eligible bond investments will be listed on the Athens Stock Exchange ("ASE") or Bucharest Stock Exchange ("BuSE") and/or other EUR/ATS platforms under EU regulations.

EBRD's participation as long-term investor will help build issuer momentum and investor interest by signalling potential market uptake for a series of issues, thereby encouraging sustained issuer presence and investor participation.

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

transition impact of the Framework will be derived from two main sources:

- Under the Resilient quality, the Framework is intended to further mobilise investments and support the re-opening and subsequent development of the debt capital markets in Greece and Romania, by expanding access to credit and providing alternative means of financing for viable companies.

- Under the Green quality, the Framework will encourage corporates issuers to advance their transition towards a low-carbon economy by issuing bonds with Green use of proceeds or Green KPIs. Eligible instruments will be adapted to the issuer's level of sophistication. In the case of first time issuers only, the Framework will support plain vanilla bond with embedded GET-eligible green use of proceeds, while for all other corporate issuers, it will only support Sustainable Bonds (Green, Sustainability or Sustainability-linked Bonds), which will also support improved transparency and disclosure.

Client information

The Framework will be available for Greek and Romanian corporates, excluding banks and non-bank financial institutions. The Framework will not concentrate on a specific set of corporates or sectors but will be available to issuers across various sectors and sizes ranging from SMEs to large corporates.

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 400,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 400,000,000.00

Additionality

The project is additional in terms of financing structure, risk mitigation, standard-setting and innovative financing instruments. Additionality derives from supporting the successful issuance of corporate issuers in shallow and volatile markets and from promoting innovative financing instruments (Sustainable Bonds) and green investments, while promoting the incorporation of best market standards and practice.

Environmental & Social Summary

The Framework itself is not categorised but each sub-project will be categorised on a case by case basis and will be subject to individual environmental and social appraisal. Due to the nature of capital market transactions, the Bank's environmental and social appraisal will be risk based. It may have to rely solely on publicly available information and it will focus on assessing the client's capacity and commitment to manage the environmental and/or social risks associated with its business activities, and with the investment projects to be financed with proceeds raised through such capital market transactions, in accordance with relevant national laws, GIP, and the PRs. The appraisal will identify whether the available information is sufficient to determine the environmental and social risks and impacts of the project and compliance with the PRs. After subscription, the Bank will require clients to comply with the PRs. No high E&S risk sub-projects or sub-projects categorised "A" will be financed through this Framework.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

None.

PSD last updated

27 Apr 2023

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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