The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced today that it was extending a EUR 7 million loan to Istrabenz Plini Beograd to invest in construction of a new filling station near Belgrade.
As said, the station will be located in Simanovci, 35km north-west of Belgrade, which will allow the company to fill gas cylinders with industrial gases instead of purchasing filled industrial gas cylinders from its parent company in Slovenia.
Istrabenz is ultimately owned by SIAD SpA, a leading Italian and European industrial gas producer with operations in the Western Balkans and in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
The company opened a new air separation plant in Hungary in 2019, and is considering other investments in the region including an industrial gas separation plant in Croatia and a further presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than EUR 5.7 billion across 263 projects in the country. The EBRD is supporting private-sector development and the transition towards a green economy, as well as investing in infrastructure to improve private sector competitiveness and boost connectivity in the Western Balkans region. Last year, the Bank achieved a record result in Serbia with EUR 507 million new commitments.
