Contributing to global climate protection: KfW supports environmentally friendly modernisation of municipal infrastructure in Russia

Frankfurt (ots) -

- Signed memorandum of understanding on cooperation in
environmental finance
- Cooperation between two partner banks of the International
Development Finance Club (IDFC)

Today KfW and the Russian state corporation Bank for Development
and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank, VEB) signed a
memorandum of understanding on the occasion of a meeting of the
International Development Finance Club (IDFC). It provides for
cooperation with Russian municipalities in the modernisation of their
social infrastructure. Under the memorandum KfW agrees to provide
funds from the International Climate Protection Initiative (IKI) of
German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) for climate and
energy-efficient modernisation of waste management and sanitation
systems as well as urban transport networks in the Russian
Federation.

"KfW can draw on many years of experience in municipal finance and
in the financing of environmental protection projects in Germany and
around the world. This cooperation with Vnesheconombank is an
important step in the environmentally friendly modernisation of
municipal infrastructure in Russia. It will also contribute to global
climate protection, to which the IDFC partner banks are strongly
committed", said Dr Ulrich Schröder, Chairman of the Executive Board
of the KfW Group. "In the current global economic environment, state
promotional banks must often take the lead in long-term financing
operations, particularly in the area of infrastructure, and a core
task of our IDFC is to do this together", Dr Schröder added.

The investment projects are to be supported by tailor-made
financing solutions provided by VEB in the form of reduced-interest
KfW loans and with the aid of preparatory and complementary
consulting measures. The new programme will build on the successful
cooperation between the two promotional banks in the modernisation of
the waste management system in Saint Petersburg in 2012.

International Development Finance Club (IDFC)

The IDFC is a global network of 20 national and regional
development banks. The network is committed to the goal of
influencing the international discussion on the topic of development
and climate finance. This is achieved through the exchange of
knowledge and experience, joint programmes and a stronger
representation of the positions of national and regional development
banks on a global level.

Contact:
KfW, Palmengartenstr. 5 - 9, 60325 Frankfurt
Kommunikation (KOM), Sybille Bauernfeind,
Tel. +49 (0)69 7431 2038, Fax: +49 (0)69 7431 3266,
E-Mail: presse@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de