EBRD lends US$ 60 million to Kazakhstan’s Bank CenterCredit

• EBRD provides US$ 60 million financing package to Bank CenterCredit
• Kazakhstan's major lender to promote green and small-business lending
• Latest project under the EBRD's GEFF II

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting greater use of green technologies and creating growth opportunities for small firms in Kazakhstan by providing a financial package of US$ 60 million (€55.3 million) to the country's major private lender, Bank CenterCredit (BCC).

The package consists of a loan in Kazakhstan tenge equivalent to US$ 30 million under the EBRD's Kazakhstan Green Economy Financing Facility II (GEFF Kazakhstan II). Supported by the Climate Investment Funds, GEFF Kazakhstan II is helping to make green technologies more affordable to small businesses and households and create new job opportunities.

The GEFF programme is part of the EBRD's Green Economy Transition approach, through which the EBRD aims to become a majority green bank by 2025.

The remaining US$ 30 million (loaned in the Kazakhstan tenge equivalent) will be used to support private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across the country. Grant funds from the European U nion's Investment Facility for Central Asia will support the loan.

To date, the EBRD has invested €10.2 billion in 324 projects in Kazakhstan, with most of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship.