KfW at a Glance

The leading German promotional bank, KfW, is represented at around 69 locations worldwide, as well as in Belgrade. As it is focused on the future and improving life, the bank supports people, countries, and institutions who think ahead.

KfW was founded in 1948, to support the economic reconstruction of West Germany. In the 1960s, KfW went international by implementing German Financial Cooperation with Developing Countries on behalf of the German government. As a bank committed to responsibility, KfW´s mission is to support sustainable economic, social, and environmental development in Germany and worldwide. KfW is not profit-oriented and always acts on a mandate by the German Government and KfW´s General Assembly, which is composed of representatives of all relevant stakeholder groups, ranging from the German government, the parliament, and the federal states to the churches, trade unions, and the private sector. This is what sets KfW apart from commercial banks.

End of 2021, the balance sheet is around 550 bln EUR and the annual commitments worldwide exceed 130 bln EUR, thereof roughly 12 bln EUR in Development Cooperation. In total, KfW has 7,700 employees. The overarching goals are improving people’s economic and social living conditions, alleviating poverty, and protecting the climate and environment. As an institution that is governed by public law, the German Federal Government owns 80% of our capital, with the remaining 20% owned by the German federal states.

KfW supports Serbia in achieving the targets and commitments related to the EU accession process with a special focus on climate and energy as well as sustainable urban infrastructure development.

Examples

In the energy sector, KfW has financed the rehabilitation of the Mali Zvornik hydropower plant in cooperation with EPS. KfW supports a programme that introduces renewable biomass energy in local district heating systems, together with the Ministry of Mining and Energy. The first two-biomass plants in Priboj and Mali Zvornik became operational in 2021.

When it comes to energy efficiency, we are cooperating with the Public Investment Management Office (PIMO) in the energetic refurbishment of public buildings like schools and hospitals. In Belgrade, we are supporting the energetic refurbishment of the VMA hospital. We also promote national and regional electricity connectivity with the Trans Balkan Corridor in cooperation with EMS.

In regard to sustainable urban development, we have invested more than 120 million EUR so far in countrywide projects to improve urban water supply systems and wastewater management. In cooperation with Ministry of Construction Transport and Infrastructure, in Kruševac and Vranje, two state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plants were opened in 2021.

In these two regions, we are also financing regional waste management systems. Moreover, under the auspices of our cooperation in Serbia, we support sustainable economic development, secure jobs, and technical and vocational education. We provide small and medium- sized enterprises with favourable loans and technical assistance through commercial local banks.

In cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS), we established in 2021 the Serbian Entrepreneurship Foundation which offers loan guarantees schemes for start-ups and beginners in the business. We have recently started to promote dual education in Serbia and the Western Balkan region through a programme called the Regional Challenge Fund, in cooperation with the WB Chamber Investment Forum. in 2021, we successfully launched the first call for vocational training and education consortia of interested companies and educational institutes. More than 40 applications in Serbia alone have been submitted and further calls for applications are planned this year.

In 2021, the bank successfully launched the first call for vocational training and education consortia of interested companies and educational institutes

Besides soft loans, KfW also offers grants for studies and project preparation, technical assistance, and projects aiming at poverty alleviation. Given the overarching relevance of EU accession for our engagement in Serbia, we intensively cooperate with the EU and implement funds of the Western Balkan Investment Facility (WBIF), as well as national IPA.

However, we have to underline that our offer is not limited to financial support. We do have co-responsibility for the sustainable impact of all projects we are supporting. Our KfW project managers, technical and local experts closely monitor project progress and support our partners in day-to-day project management. They know the details of the projects and constantly visit them to check the progress of the project and to support our partners in solving problems.

It is this combination of favourable financial instruments, technical assistance, and personal commitment to support our partners at any time, which makes KfW an outstanding development bank.

KfW Projects in Serbia