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Tbilisi, Georgia, November 19, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $23 million loan package to a subsidiary of m
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Real Estate to fund green, low-to-middle-income housing in the Georgian capital, helping create jobs and spur economic activity.
Poorly insulated, Soviet-era apartments represent a significant part of Tbilisi’s housing stock, while demand for high-quality affordable housing remains largely unmet. IFC’s loan to m2 Residential LLC, which includes $11.5 million mobilized from the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF), will finance around 1,800 apartments, which are expected to increase the efficient use of energy, water, and materials to reduce negative impacts on health and the environment.
“This partnership with IFC has helped us complete the first stage of our strategy to provide quality housing in Tbilisi,” said Irakli Burdiladze, Chairman, m
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Real Estate. “As one of the leading Georgian development companies, we are committed to continue to improve living standards for Georgian families.”
Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, said: “IFC’s financing continues to set a standard for developing energy efficient buildings, fostering competition in the housing sector. In addition to improving people’s living standards, the project is expected to create jobs through local procurement during and after construction, contributing to economic development.”
Christopher Knowles, Chairman of the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe, said: “With the support provided to m
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Residential LLC in partnership with IFC, we demonstrate our continued commitment to energy savings and the reduction of CO2 in Georgia,” says “The housing projects of M2 Residential LLC achieve an estimated 40% energy savings compared to similar-sized new buildings in the Georgian market, demonstrating the demand for high quality, green buildings.”
m
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Real Estate aims to build more than 2,000 new apartments by the end of 2018. In 2013, IFC provided the company with a revolving loan of $14 million, including $4 million from the IFC-Canada Climate Change Program, to help develop Georgia’s first energy efficient, affordable housing projects.
Since Georgia became an IFC member in 1995, IFC has provided more than $1 billion in long-term financing, including $362 million mobilized from partners, supporting 52 projects across various sectors. In addition, IFC has supported trade worth nearly $300 million through its trade finance program, and implemented a number of advisory projects focused on private sector development.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence, to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY15, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $18 billion, helping the private sector play an essential role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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About m
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Real Estate
JSC m
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Real Estate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Georgia Holdings plc, is a real estate company focusing on the real estate development and property management. To this date, m
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Real Estate has attracted equity and debt financing in the aggregate amount of nearly US$ 80 million. m
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Real Estate has already successfully completed 3 housing projects located in the central districts in Tbilisi, Georgia, with 3 more projects underway planned to be finished in 2016. For more information, visit
www.m2.ge
.
About the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF)
The Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe (GGF) is dedicated to enhancing energy efficiency and fostering the use of renewable energy sources in Southeast Europe, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey as well as in the nearby European Eastern Neighbourhood region comprised of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The GGF provides refinancing to financial institutions for on-lending to enterprises and private households seeking to finance energy efficiency projects. The GGF also invests directly in small to medium-scale renewable energy projects. To maximize the impact of the Fund’s investment activities, the GGF’s Technical Assistance Facility offers capacity building support to local financial institutions and partners. The GGF was initiated as a public-private partnership in December 2009 by the KfW Development Bank (KfW) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) with the financial support of the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Its growing base of committed investors comprises donor agencies, international financial institutions and institutional private investors, such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB). The GGF, registered under Luxembourg law as a SICAV (variable capital investment company), is privately managed by Oppenheim Asset Management Services S.à r.l., Luxembourg, in concert with the fund advisor, Finance in Motion GmbH, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, and the technical advisor, MACS Management & Consulting Services GmbH, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. For more information:
www.ggf.lu
.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of independence.
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