With environmental pollution reaching urgent levels in Poland, the EBRD will be supporting Santander Leasing S.A., with a loan of €80 million. Santander is the country’s fifth largest leasing company.
The funds will help to finance green investments and will be aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses and help move Poland towards a more sustainable and green economy.
Santander Leasing will be investing mainly in renewable sources of energy, resource efficiency, energy saving, waste minimising and the efficient use of water.
The EBRD is extended the loan as part of its Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) strategy. GEFF Poland will gain the benefits currently received by 26 other countries who have so far received around €4.2 billion of finance. This has been used by financial institutions to fund around 130,000 companies leading to annual reductions in CO2 emissions by around 7 million tonnes.
The main benefits of this EBRD loan will be to support Santander Leasing in its attempts to reach out to the various SMEs and micro companies in Poland. It is these companies who are likely to gain the most from the leases that will become available as a result of the loans.
SMEs are the mainstay of the Polish economy, yet they are often unable to find the finance to be able to invest in energy efficiencies or equipment that will make them more competitive. It is hoped that the leases will start to reverse that position.
The EBRD has announced that supporting green initiatives in Poland is one of its key aims and as a result it has already invested in over 425 projects with an overall investment of over €10 billion.
Flexpol, one of the largest BOPP film producers has been acquired for around €19.8-million by the Canadian company CCL.
The company, based in Toronto, will start trading in the region after the deal closes in the first quarter of this year under the name of Innovia Poland.
Flexpol is focused on customers looking for flexible packaging options and reached sales of around €63.1-million in 2019.
CEO of CCL, Geoffrey Martin, is hoping that the new acquisition will boost profits by 2021, citing the condition of the plant, combined with low location costs and state-of-the-art technology as key to enhancing product mix.
Günther Birkner, global head of Innovia will have the main oversight of the operations of Innovia Poland along with is role in the CCL’s Food & Beverage and Healthcare & Speciality label businesses.
