Belgrade waste PPP reaches financial close

The municipal waste treatment and disposal services project in Belgrade awarded to a consortium led by Suez and Itochu has reached financial close. 

IFC and MIGA, members of the World Bank Group, are providing a EUR259.57 million (US$284.72 million) financing and guarantees package to Beo Čista Energija d.o.o. for a landmark waste-to-energy project in Belgrade that will clean up one of Europe’s largest uncontrolled landfills and construct a new, sustainable waste-management complex to help reduce pollution and mitigate climate change.

IFC’s financing includes an A loan of up to EUR72.25 million (US$79.2 million); a parallel loan from Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) of up to EUR 35 million (USD 39 million); a B loan of up to EUR 35 million (USD 39 million); and a concessional senior loan of up to EUR 20 million (USD 22 million) from the Canada-IFC Blended Climate Finance Program. It is part of a wider package that includes an EBRD loan of up to EUR 128.2 million (USD 141 million).

MIGA guarantees of EUR 97.3 million (USD 107 million) are being provided for up to 20 years against non-commercial risks, including breach of contract. The guarantees are covering up to 90 percent of investor equity in Beo Čista Energija d.o.o.

The total investment will be mobilized by Beo Čista Energija Ltd., a special purpose vehicle formed by the global utility company SUEZ, the Japanese conglomerate Itochu and Marguerite Fund, a pan-European equity fund investing in renewables, energy, and transport.

The three companies entered a 25-year public-private partnership (PPP) with the City of Belgrade in 2017 for the first large-scale environmental infrastructure PPP investment in the Western Balkans region.