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Banks join the financing of green projects
December 15, 2025
Belgrade, 15 December 2025 – In partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the European Investment Bank (EIB), as part of the project “EU for Green Agenda in Serbia”, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has established a new financing model for green investments. In addition to beneficiaries’ own funds and donor grants, this model includes specially tailored, more favourable loans from commercial banks. The aim of greater involvement of banks in financing green projects from both the private and public sectors is to accelerate the green transition in Serbia.
"The Ministry supports initiatives that foster the green transition and the implementation of the Green Agenda by introducing modern standards in environmental protection. Collaboration with UNDP and the European Investment Bank demonstrates that a sustainable financing model for green economic investments is possible, thereby accelerating the green transition in Serbia. These programs encourage investments in modern technologies but also help the local economy adopt European and global environmental standards, which is our strategic goal", says Sara Pavkov, Minister of Environmental Protection.
Richard Kohli, Head of Cooperation at the Swiss Embassy in Serbia, believes the green transition can advance significantly with active involvement of the private sector and commercial banks. "In partnership with the banks that participated in the public call, we are proud to support the first six green investments. This joint financing model has interesting potential to accelerate the implementation of sustainable and long-term profitable solutions across Serbia."
"Through this partnership initiative, we have jointly developed an approach to identify and prepare projects with potential for multi-source financing. We provided support and mediated between commercial banks and companies, therefore significantly contributing to Serbia's green transition," says Damien Sorel, Head of the Regional Hub of the EIB for the Western Balkans.
About the model of joint green financing
UNDP provided expert support to companies selected through the public call for companies and banks to jointly invest in the green transition in Serbia, helping them to develop technically mature, profitable, and sustainable projects. The six most feasible projects were selected for co-funding with resources from the Government of Switzerland within the initiative “EU for Green Agenda in Serbia”. This made these projects financially more secure for bank investment as well, which is why they received specially tailored loans, including lower interest rates and longer repayment periods, from the banks that responded to UNDP’s public call to accelerate the green transformation of Serbia’s economy and society. These banks include OTP Bank, Intesa Bank, ProCredit Bank, Erste Bank, NLB Commercial Bank, UniCredit Bank, UniCredit Leasing, and ALTA Leasing. Six new green projects from public and private companies will be financed in this way, contributing to the reduction of GHG emissions and air pollution, more efficient use of resources, and enhancing the climate resilience of local communities.
"This program allowed us to more precisely identify sustainable initiatives and efficiently direct available funds toward safer, higher-quality green initiatives", explains Zoran Žunjić, Head of the Mid Market Corporate Department at OTP Bank Serbia.
"Involving the banking sector in the joint financing model allows us to expand the range of areas that are profitable for green investments. For example, some partner banks had already recognised investments in energy efficiency as profitable, but now they are also ready to support other types of investments, such as modernising production processes and HVAC systems, or installing plants for wastewater treatment and processing other types of waste. This significantly contributes to environmental protection and citizens' well-being", says Yakup Beris, UNDP Serbia Resident Representative.
By making their businesses greener, Serbian companies also fulfil the obligation to align their operations with local and European regulations on reducing GHG emissions and environmental protection, such as Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the use of Best Available Techniques (BAT) to reduce negative environmental impacts.
About the projects selected for joint green financing
One of the six supported projects is the first power plant in Serbia to use low-temperature geothermal water, developed by the Mlino-Mont company from Bogatić. Thanks to joint financing, Mlekara Šabac is optimising energy use in milk and dairy production by cooperating with the nearby biogas plant and reducing the consumption of energy, water, and chemicals. The Bobi Stef company from Sevojno is transitioning to a more sustainable model of window and door production by using biomass and heat pumps. In Kovin, the CHAMPICOMP company is modernising its technology to manufacture compost for mushrooms and is switching to a more efficient and environmentally friendly heating system. The PUC Vodovod Kruševac is making water supply greener by introducing solar energy and an energy-efficient automatic sludge dehydration system. Finally, Repol from Valjevo is increasing recycling capacity for industrial plastic waste by introducing energy-efficient equipment.
This ensures continued support for green investments in Serbia, through which 94 green projects have been implemented since 2022, with a total value of 56.4 million USD, and co-funding in the amount of 6.9 million USD provided by the European Union and the Governments of Switzerland, Sweden, and Serbia.
