The EBRD said it is providing a EUR 5mn loan facility to Kosovo's TEB bank, part of French-Turkish TEB Holding, for on-lending to businesses and the residential sector for energy efficiency projects. The facility is aimed at financing projects that promote the rational utilisation of energy, reducing prices in the sector and lessening Kosovo's dependency on imports, the EBRD said in a statement. 

The loan is provided under the Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects Framework (KoSEP), which the EBRD board of directors approved in the beginning of May. The project is endowed with up to EUR 12mn of EBRD finance and EUR 3mn grant support from the EU. In addition, Norway's government has vowed technical assistance.

In its statement, the EBRD pointed out that in Kosovo energy consumption exceeds the country's generation capacity, which in the winter can only cover 60% of the domestic demand. The EBRD also cited a 2007 World Bank study, according to which proper building insulation could reduce household energy consumption for space heating by as much as 35%.

TEB is owned by TEB Holding A.S., which is a 50-50% joint venture of France's BNP Paribas Group and Turkey's Colakoglu Group. It  is the fourth largest bank in Kosovo in terms of assets, with a market share of 11.4% as of end-2012.

Kosovo became an EBRD member in December 2012 and this is the Bank's first investment in the country. Earlier in May the EBRD adopted its first full country strategy for Kosovo, pledging to support sustainable energy projects.