EBRD and Banka OTP Albania support ONE Telecommunications

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Banka OTP Albania are supporting the expansion of one of the country’s leading telecommunications providers, ONE Telecommunications.

Banka OTP Albania is providing a €2 million loan, with €1 million to be guaranteed by the EBRD, under a risk-sharing facility between the two financial institutions.

ONE Telecommunications offers telecommunications services in Albania, having significantly strengthened its market position in recent years. The joint OTP-EBRD facility will contribute to advancing telecommunications services and connectivity in the country at a time when digitalisation is key in the post-Covid-19 economy.

“Enhancing private-sector competitiveness through wider access to finance is one of the EBRD’s priorities in Albania and we are happy to further this by supporting ONE Telecommunications with our partner Banka OTP Albania. Our partnership will enable ONE Telecommunications to get more Albanians connected, which is increasingly important in our digitalised world,” said Ekaterina Solovova, the EBRD’s Head of Albania.

Bledar Shella, CEO, OTP Bank Albania said: “The EBRD has created useful frameworks to support local businesses and we believe are the right financing partner to boost the development of local businesses. OTP Bank Albania and One Telecommunications have already established a strong and healthy relationship, which includes key bank-business cooperation areas, and we are happy that this partnership is successfully progressing”.

Emil Georgakiev, CEO of ONE Telecommunications said: “We are pleased that our efforts during these two years have been recognised by leading international financial institutions such as the EBRD. Thanks to our increasing market share, customer satisfaction and positive financial results we are now entering into a collaboration with the EBRD. We strongly believe that we will continue to grow and become the preferred operator in Albania. With this agreement, we can focus on the needs of our clients and continue with our investment plans”.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Albania. To date, the Bank has invested €1.68 billion in 115 projects in the country.

Banka OTP Albania has been a part of the EBRD’s Risk Sharing Framework (RSF) since May 2019. The RSF allows partner banks to share with the EBRD their exposure to the loans that they provide to local enterprises through either funded or unfunded risk participation, contributing to the strengthening and expansion of local entrepreneurship.