On the 20th anniversary of its operation in the financial market in Kosovo, Raiffeisen Bank today organized the two-day Summit "Environment, Society and Governance", focused on the topic "Transition to the green economy".

In the framework of this Summit, various aspects of promoting sustainability, addressing climate change and mobilizing resources to support green initiatives were discussed through panels.

The chief executive officer of Raiffeisen Bank in Kosovo, Anita Kovacic, said that in recent years as a bank, they have focused on the impact that the bank's portfolio has on preserving the environment and circular economy.

According to her, together we can promote positive changes and pave the way for a greener future.

"Raiffeisen Bank marks its 20th anniversary in Kosovo this year. This has been an incredible journey, which we have tried to describe with a simple slogan: Support. Responsibility. Innovation... Especially in recent years, we have focused intensively on the impact that the bank's portfolio has on preserving the environment and the circular economy. We believe that together we can encourage positive change and pave the way for a greener future. I hope that this event will contribute to exploring the challenges and opportunities of the transition to a more sustainable and climate-friendly economy in Kosovo. I hope it will serve as a platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange between stakeholders from government institutions, private sector organizations, financial institutions and civil society," she said.

The member of the Board of the Central Bank of Kosovo, Nora Latifi - Jashari, while congratulating the 20th anniversary of Raiffeisen Bank, said that the Central Bank of Kosovo is working on drafting a strategy which will contain supervisory requirements for the management of risks related to climate and environmental change.

Latifi-Jashari expressed optimism that the financial sector in Kosovo has sufficient capacity to contribute to this transition towards the green economy.

"In the framework of the Western Balkans, at the Sofia Summit in November 2020, Kosovo has expressed its commitment to support the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans... The banking sector represents the main component of the financial system of Kosovo and has an important role in the transition to the green economy. It is the duty of the CBK, as a supervisory authority, to ensure that the banks under its supervision address these risks adequately. We believe that the financial sector in Kosovo has sufficient capacities to absorb the necessary reforms and to contribute to this transition towards the green economy", said Latifi-Jashari.

Within the framework of the "Environment, Society and Governance" Summit, with the theme "Transition to the green economy", discussion panels talked about the impact that bank loans have on the protection of the environment and the circular economy.

The Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Kosovo, Sergiy Maslichenko, emphasized that for the EBRD it is key to support the government, businesses and people of Kosovo to be green.

While talking about the investments made by this bank in the field of renewable energy, Maslichenko emphasized that the government should be bolder in terms of launching other auctions.

"We have allocated 33 million euros for Kosovo to finance 1,500 houses with a focus on renewable energy, so every third project is related to renewable energy, either for solar panels, heat pumps, or the use of biomass. Regarding the competition, we have achieved a lot, we have financed with loans and projects for renewable energy, 5 million is the amount for 50 projects... For 6 years now, we have been involved in supporting the government and regulators for the various frameworks for renewable energy, the fee has been adequate to finance two major projects, and we have also launched a new support program. We support the government with auctions, we see that there is interest from foreign investors and the government should be bolder and do more. The government should move faster in this direction to launch another auction to enable developers to use the land. As EBRD, we are ready to support more the government, businesses, commercial banks and the population, consultants are ready for these auctions", he said.

Meanwhile, the representative of the International Monetary Fund Office in Kosovo, Selim Thaçi, said that addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development are urgent priorities.

According to him, the IMF has put green financing high on its agenda and now has a new financing instrument from which Kosovo is also a beneficiary.

"The IMF has placed green financing very high on its agenda in terms of the monitoring part as well as in the part of the financing provided to the member countries in this institution. For this purpose, during the year 2022, the IMF has created a new instrument which focuses on the financing of projects based on renewable energy, a fund which so far has a great demand from all member countries to benefit through of this instrument.... In this regard, Kosovo was among the first countries to benefit from this instrument and the IMF Board on May 25 approved the ARSF agreement which provides a financing of around 80 million euros, which focuses on renewable energy ", he said.

The Deputy Minister for Economy, Getoar Mjeku, was also present at this ESG Summit, who declared that the energy strategy will pave the way for a green transition and energy transformation by 2031.

According to him, the energy system in Kosovo continues to be fragile, while he emphasized that until 2050, they aim for carbon neutrality.

"Kosovo intends to implement the energy strategy in accordance with the Sofia agreement and the green plan in the Western Balkans and gradually move towards carbon neutrality by 2050. With this trilemma of the energy strategy, we will choose the means that achieve the goals and our focus will be where the biggest deficiencies are, that is, on renewable sources which are still not sufficient in relation to energy needs and efficiency. With the strategy, we aim for 1300 MGW new capacities in total 1600 within the year 2031, reaching up to 35% of the composition of the total consumption from renewable sources. To push forward these resources, we are finalizing the law on renewable resources for the first time in Kosovo, but we are also working on concrete projects especially in the auction for the 100 MGW solar park that will be open until the end of this summer ", he said.

The managing director of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund, Besnik Berisha, said that strategic investments are a strategic segment for the Fund.

According to him, they have already launched the GROW window, which aims to stimulate investments in the green economy.

"Green investments is one of the strategic segments defined and identified both by donors and by the Board of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund. Last year we launched the GROW window. The GROW window is about the sharing of credit risk in partner banks in order to stimulate green investments. We started piloting this window in June 2021, while we are now in the process of partnering for this window with two other financial banks, until the end of the year, it is planned that all the banks with which we partner will have guarantee agreements to enabling the sharing of credit risk for green investments", he emphasized.

On the first day of the "Environment, Society and Governance" Summit, representatives of Raiffeisen Bank expressed their willingness as a banking entity to finance 10% of their portfolio in renewable energy projects.

Raiffeisen Bank in Kosovo is a branch of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI). RBI came to Kosovo at the end of 2002 by buying most of the shares of the American Bank of Kosovo. In June 2003, the Bank was renamed as Raiffeisen Bank in Kosovo.