A. Kuchinsky. Belarusian banks: trend on

BELARUSIAN BANKS: TREND ON “GREEN” ECONOMY

TODAY MANY GOVERNMENTS PAY MORE ATTENTION THAN EVER TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. THE “GREEN” FINANCE MARKET IS GROWING RAPIDLY, WITH HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ISSUING “GREEN” BONDS AND “CLIMATIC” SECURITIES. “GREEN” CREDITS FROM BANKS AND GOVERNMENTS ARE ESTIMATED TO REACH $1–1.5 TRILLION.

Alexander Kuchinsky, Chairman of the Association of Belarusian Banks

Belgazprombank is financing the construction of wind farms

Belarusian credit and financial institutions make their contribution to the development of “green finance” and follow the principals of “green office”, aimed at improving energy efficiency, modernization, optimization of buildings and premises as well as training staff in the rational use of resources. This issue was discussed at the meeting of the Advisory Board under the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus as one of the aspects of the banks' corporate social responsibility, and the Association of Belarusian Banks presented a report on this topic.

There are many projects and some of them should be considered.

BSB Bank JSC totaled up that its offices use 7425 packs of paper per year, which requires 128 trees to be cut down. Then the bank's employees headed by the Chairman of the Board held a campaign "Let's plant trees together". The Yama memorial complex, located near the bank's central office, was chosen as a site. The Association of Belarusian Banks supported the initiative and held the action "Let's give trees back to the nature". BNB-Bank took part in the modernization of trucks to Euro-5 standard, actively promotes the development of electric transport and construction of charging infrastructure for it and credits at affordable rates for the purchase of electric cars, hybrids and equipment for their maintenance.

By the way the Bank itself uses electric cars for deliveries and it has built two charging stations in Minsk and Grodno. While the Bank’s subsidiary BNB-Leasing raises funds from the North ecological financial corporation (NEFKO) in order to develop the electric transport in the Republic of Belarus. BPS-Sberbank is running a campaign “Green Marathon”. Hundreds of Belarussians took part in the race 4.2 km long in Brest and after that planted a parkway near the Brest Fortress. Besides the bank is actively introducing eco-offices which are a whole philosophy aimed to minimize the negative effects on the environment through the efficient use and saving both the planet’s resources and the financial resources of the bank. One of the central offices of BPS-Sberbank uses bioerodible stationary (bags, pens and notebooks), paper coffee cups and employee uniform is partly made of recycled material. Forty per cent of the offices’ operations are carried out paperless. By the way it allowed to avoid operational mistakes and to reduce working hours. The bank’s offices also introduce a separate waste collection and independent temperature controllers saving the heat energy by 482 Gcal per year. Similar trends are followed by the Bank BelVEB which develops the range of paperless online-products with online-codes in SMS. Clients’ profiles are also becoming electronic. It is evaluated that giving paperless online pin-codes only saves average 120 packs of special paper per year or five trees.

As for the “green” financing the Belarusian banks issue loans to the construction projects of renewable energy resource, ecologically friendly buildings, organic agriculture. Considering loan applications from businesses bank managers always examine ecological and social risks. For instance Priorbank financed the construction of a production base for recyclable materials storage in Grodno and refinanced the expenses of one of its clients to create the base for PET bottles recycling.

The Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus has a number of agreements with credit and financial institutes to finance small and medium business with raised funds of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. One of the criteria to get money is the conformity with the Framework document for environment protection and environmental ecological legislation.

Executing the order of the President of Belarus to raise the effectiveness of recycling and to minimize the negative effects on the environment as well as to reduce the usage of plastic packaging the Management Board of the Development Bank has recently approved the terms of financing the small and medium business which produces eco-friendly packaging including from glass and paper. The loans can be received through partner-banks for the purchase (reconstruction, modernization, construction, capital repairs) of buildings, facilities and intangible assets (franchises). In the nearest future there will be agreements with all partner-banks.

Belagroprombank for many years has financed citizens and their families with private subsidiary plots including with organic farming. Loans with lower rates are issued to buy cattle, poultry, bee colonies, beehives, honey extractors, young plants of fruit and berries, greenhouses. Moreover the bank helps with financing of gasification and electricity installation for farms, water and canalization adjustment, equipment purchase. The bank may also assist to agro-ecotourism units.

Belarusbank JSC as a leader of the Belarusian financial market actively helps the business in the country to implement “green” projects. For example the bank supports the project of “BudEco” Ltd. for the recycling of polymeric materials (overwrap and bags) with already constructed local waste treatment facilities with the use of waste water and the waste from biogas and cogeneration plant at “Milkavita” JSC.

Belgazprombank has completed a number of projects for environment protection, energy saving, development of ecological energy resources and transport. In particular the Bank has financed the construction of a solar electric plant with total capacity of 17 megawatt on the territory of the Grodno region, a solar electric plant with total capacity of 6 megawatt in the Minsk region, the production of electric energy from renewable resources of energy (solar panels) in the Mogilev region, the construction of a wind plant in the Kruglyansk region. The Bank’s funds have helped to purchase and setup the wind turbines, wind power generators, solar module station in the Goretsk, Grodno and Shuchinsk regions, in Bykhov and Mstislav, to upgrade the working wind power stations in the Mogilev region.

The Bank Dabrabyt has financed an investment project for the construction of the first biogas power station in Belarus. This project will increase the share of electric energy produced by biogas stations.

Besides the banks run large scale ecological campaigns, promote among clients saving and sustainable use of natural resources.

For example Belarusbank JSC is a partner of the project «Зялёныя скарбы Беларусi» managed by the Central botanic garden of the National Academy of Science and is aimed to preserve biodiversity and to revive the unique nature objects. Last year the bank’s employees were helping to remove plastic, glass and metal from the places with rear plants. The cleaning of different grounds was organized in all regional centers: in Brest the floodplain of the Muhavets river was cleaned, in Vitebsk the exposition of rear medical plants was repaired on the training ground of a medical university, in Gomel the early bloomers were cleared from rubbish in the area Novobelitsa, in the Grodno region the natural area “Ozery” with rear plants was cleaned, and in the Mogilev region on the territory of Alexandrian secondary school of the Shkalovsk district a reserve appeared for the population of extinct plant.

Belinvestbank last year conducted a rebranding with a new mission “To support harmonized development of society aimed at respect for the envi

ronment and personality”. This philosophy is supposed to lead Belinvestbank to gradual transformation into the first Belarusian eco-bank. In composes a lot of aspects and areas but the key one is ecological business of the bank itself and its partners. The transformation program is planned for seven years. Its main lines are included into the Development Strategy of Belinvestbank JSC starting from 2021. Among large “green” projects of the bank which are being developed is the issues of “green bonds”. Their feature is that the raised money will be used for the projects connected with renewable energy, higher energy effectiveness, ecological transport or decarbonized economy. The launch of the accelerator of the “green” projects will allow to spot and support the ideas and technologies able to change the world for the better.

Besides the bank in doing to continue financing “green” projects. The largest of them are already completed like the construction of photoelectricity station in the Mogilev region and the mini energy and water supply station in the Grodno region. The Bank is also considering the financing a number of new “green” projects within the program Climate Smart Trade – the equipment and systems which can positively influence the climate change.

Thus we should mention that the “green” economy is becoming more and more popular among the credit and financial organization of the Republic of Belarus. Many people associate their development and the future of the country with it.