Rostov-on-Don, Russia, May 21, 2013
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Russian homeowners repair and retrofit apartment buildings, improving living conditions and lowering utility expenses.
Working with the All-Russia Association of Home Owner Associations and the Center for Energy Efficiency, IFC developed a specialized training program to educate home owners on how to assess the energy efficiency potential of their buildings, how to calculate economic benefits, and how to finance energy efficient renovations and repairs, including via bank loans. The first training session took place today in Rostov-on-Don.
“Many multi-family buildings in Russia, especially in remote regions and smaller cities, require capital renovation,” said Evgeniya Yunisova, Managing Director of the All-Russia Association of Home Owner Associations. “We are very grateful to IFC for developing and sharing this training, which will equip homeowners across Russia with the knowledge and tools necessary to organize and finance energy efficiency repairs of their buildings and ultimately improve their living conditions.”
Katerina Levitanskaya, IFC’s Project Manager, said: “Housing and utilities prices in Russia have increased almost 10-fold over the past decade, which makes energy efficiency renovations attractive for homeowners. But frequently they lack the knowledge and resources to organize and finance the capital repairs of their buildings. By making this specialized training available to homeowners across the country and partnering with local commercial banks to provide necessary financing, IFC contributes to the energy efficient modernization of Russia’s residential sector and boosts the quality of life.”
The training program will be disseminated throughout the country by the All-Russia Association of Home Owner Associations, which operates 59 regional associations and other regional bodies, whose outreach in turn extends to the majority of Russia’s regions.
The IFC Russia Residential Energy Efficiency Project aims to stimulate investment in the energy efficient renovation of residential multi-family buildings and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions in Russia. The project is being implemented with financial support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy of Finland, and the Global Environment Facility in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Russia became an IFC member and shareholder in 1993. Since then, IFC has invested more than $10 billion in the country, including $3.2 billion in syndicated loans, and has been involved in 270 projects across a variety of sectors. IFC’s investment portfolio in Russia stands at $2.3 billion.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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