Balfin Group (IFC-46472)

Countries
  • Albania
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Korça, Vlore, Shkoder, Tirana, Elbasan
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Oct 19, 2022
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
BALFIN SH.P.K.
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Construction
  • Finance
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 39.06 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 40
Converted using 2022-10-19 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 51.70 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Mar 2, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Aug 18, 2022

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed investment is up to €40m corporate loan to BALFIN Group (https://balfin.al/), one of the largest conglomerates in Albania with operations in the Western Balkans region, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The IFC loan will help the Company (i) refinancing existing debt of the brownfield TEG shopping mall; (ii) extension, refurbishment and other related capex of TEG including a 1-2 MW rooftop solar park; and (iii) recapitalization of TEG and to finance its Retail Park projects in Korça, Vlore, Shkoder, Tirana and Elbasan (under the “West Park” concept).

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Balfin is a leading diversified conglomerate based in Albania and a premium employer in the country. Established in 1993, it is fully owned by Mr. Samir Mane. It owns 88.1% of TEG with the remaining shares held by Albanian American Enterprise Fund (8.9%) and First Investment Services (3%).

The Company’s diverse investment portfolio can be categorized into real estate, retail, banking, tourism, wholesale and services (energy trading, logistics and education). Under the scope of this Project, the BALFIN group companies of relevance are:  

- BALFIN Group (Balkan Finance Investment Group) – Corporate group employing over 5,500 people and overseeing the group companies listed below.

- TEG (Tirana East Gate) SH.P.K.

- Retail Park LTD

- ACREM (Albanian Commercial Real Estate Management) – Provides management services (including design, procurement and the implementation process) for commercial real estate, including TEG and Retail Park LTD. ACREM will be responsible for operating all retail parks.

- Mane TCI – BALFIN’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor company specialized in real estate development.  Mane TCI is responsible for completing project designs, procuring the necessary materials and equipment, preparing construction documents, and constructing BALFIN’s projects, including the TEG Extension and Retail Park LTD.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - ACREM (Albanian Commercial Real Estate Management) Contractor Construction
- - - - Balfin Group Client Finance

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

Client - Balkan Finance Investment Group Sh.p.k:

Edlira Muka - CEO
Phone: +355 44509250
Email: info@balfin.al
Address: ‘Papa Gjon Pali II’, Floor 11, ABA Center, Postal Code 1010, Tirana, Albania
Website: https://balfin.al/ 

Contractor - ACREM (Albanian Commercial Real Estate Management):

Address: Rruga Nacionale Tiranë-Elbasan, Tirana, Albania
Phone: +355 4 2395000
Email: info@acrem.al
Website: https://acrem.al/en/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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