YEREVAN, November 10, /ARKA/. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched today the Armenian Sustainable Energy Financing Facility, or ArmSEFF, to help Armenia in developing more competitive private businesses.

Within ArmSEFF, the EBRD will offer a total of US$ 20 million in loans through Armenian lenders such as Anelik Bank that already joined the facility. It is expected that the credit line will be extended with additional US$ 5 million to support residential energy efficiency projects.

ArmSEFF is a credit line dedicated to investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that aims to increase energy savings and decrease carbon emissions. The credit line is a part of bigger EBRD-led Caucasus Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP).

It enables commercial banks in Armenia to meet increasing demand for energy efficiency loans and to maintain the availability of these specific credits to private companies and entities in a challenging environment where access to alternative sources of finance remains limited.

Industrial companies, commercial enterprises and private households that wish to invest in energy efficiency or renewable energy projects will be able to apply for assistance if they submit their proposals for evaluation.

Valeriu Razlog, Head of EBRD Office in Armenia, said that companies should consider energy efficiency projects not only for monetary savings, but also to benefit their competitive power in the medium and the long term.

"Armenia's energy need has been surging for the past few years, while Armenia's investments in energy are very important in increasing supply and utilizing resources more efficiently," he added.

The credit line will be complemented by technical cooperation support to engage both international and local energy experts who will review investment proposals, conduct energy audits and support companies in securing funding under ArmSEFF. The technical assistance is absolutely free for companies and is funded by Austria's Federal Ministry of Finance.

In July 2007 the EBRD established the Caucasus Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP), a dedicated credit line facility to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the Caucasus aimed at end-users in the industrial sector, renewable energy sources developers and the residential sector.

Earlier in October this year Anelik Bank was the first local bank in Armenia that joined ArmSEFF and received a US$ 3 million loan (approximately 1 billion Armenian Drams) for on-lending to eligible sub-borrowers.

Since the beginning of its operations in Armenia in 1992, the EBRD has invested over €414 million in 87 projects in the country's financial, corporate and energy sectors, and infrastructure, with 96 per cent of the projects' being investments into the development of the private sector. –0--