The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested RON 131 million (€26 million equivalent) in Romania’s first sustainability bonds, issued by Raiffeisen Bank Romania (RBRO). Sustainability bonds are bonds with allocation to both green and social assets.

Thanks to healthy demand, Raiffeisen – a subsidiary of the Austria-based group Raiffeisen Bank International – raised RON 500 million (€102 million equivalent), in a private placement settled on 17 August, to finance sustainable projects. The senior non-preferred sustainability bonds have a five-year maturity and are expected to be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Through this investment, the EBRD aims to support the resilience of RBRO, a systemic bank in Romania. By facilitating the expansion of the market for senior non-preferred and senior preferred bonds, as well as for instruments denominated in local currency, it will facilitate capital market development in a regional environment impacted by Russia’s war on Ukraine and inflationary pressures.

In Romania, a key theme in the EBRD’s strategic agenda is to support the financing of investments with clear environmental and social benefits. This transaction will build inclusiveness by facilitating the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in underdeveloped regions of Romania.

The EBRD is a major institutional investor in Romania. To date it has invested almost €10 billion in 491 projects in the country.