EBRD provides $80 mln financing to Turkey’s VakifBank to back SMEs

ANKARA (Turkey), May 10 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday it is providing a $80 million (61.5 million euro) financing to Turkey’s VakifBank to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) investing in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy projects.

“The new funding will increase the role of Turkish banks in financing and promoting energy efficiency and will help shield SMEs from the impact of rising energy costs and high energy intensity in Turkey. This will save them money and make them more competitive in the long run,” the EBRD’s first vice president Phil Bennett said, as quoted in a statement on the bank’s website.

The financing is provided under the EBRD’s extended Turkish Sustainable Energy Finance Facility (TurSEFF), a dedicated finance facility aimed at supporting Turkey’s long-term energy strategy.

VakifBank, a full-service commercial and retail state-controlled bank, has been investing in energy efficiency under TurSEFF since May 2010.

($=0.7688 euro)

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