The bond issued by Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB) last week attracted great interest among investors who were mostly SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) -focused. 71 percent of the Sustainability Bonds are used to (re-) finance environmental projects and 29 percent to (re-) finance social projects of the Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB).

“Sustainable investments can be an important source of impetus for the transition to a sustainable and more resilient economic system. Even if the corona crisis is currently dominating everything, we must not forget about the social challenges as well as the ecological crises and climate change. I am very pleased that with our subsidiary of OeEB we can make a contribution to this”, says Angelika Sommer-Hemetsberger, who is responsible for capital market activities on the board of OeKB.

“The funds will again be allocated in accordance with the guidelines of the Sustainable Financing Framework of OeKB. Our first bond, which was oversubscribed several times, was successfully subjected to an impact review by Sustainalytics last year and was awarded a TRIGOS sustainability award. This once again very successful issue encourages us to add further sustainability bonds in the future”, says Helmut Bernkopf, responsible for export services on the board of directors of OeKB.

The bond focuses on projects in “Renewable Energy” are

In accordance with OeEB’s mandate, the resources from the Sustainability Bonds are used to finance targeted projects in developing countries. “52 percent of them will flow into projects in the” Renewable Energies” area. We primarily finance hydropower and solar power projects, which save more than 39,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Projects in the ecologically sustainable resource management category can reduce a further 16,000 tons “, explains OeEB board member Sabine Gaber.

The financial inclusion and promotion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is another strategic focus of the OeEB. “29 percent of the bond proceeds are used to finance projects to promote job creation. This supports a total of almost 120,000 micro-enterprises and 46 SMEs, and local income in the target countries increases by over 178 million euros,” said OeEB Board member Michael Wancata.

Source and more information: oekb.at

Cover picture: oekb.at