GGU Green Bond (IFC-46734)

Countries
  • Georgia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Tbilisi
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
Approved
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
Jul 13, 2024
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
GEORGIA GLOBAL UTILITIES
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Infrastructure
  • Water and Sanitation
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)
$ 60.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 300.00 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 Sep 17, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jul 26, 2024

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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.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of Georgia Global Utilities JSC’s issuance of a 5-year US$300 million green bond on Euronext Dublin (the Project) to (i) refinance approximately US$200 million of the Company’s current shareholder loans and (ii) finance approximately US$100 million of the Company’s green capital expenditures program.

The project will support (i) the improvement of the quality of water services in the wider metro area of Tbilisi, and (ii) the increase of new customer connections to water service. At the market level, the project contributes to deepening financial integration by demonstrating to Georgian corporates and signaling to investors the potential for issuance of sustainable finance instruments.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The investment activities will primarily focus on the water production and distribution part of the business, and they will largely be conducted within the existing environmental and social (E&S) footprint. As a result, the expected E&S risks and impacts associated with the investment are anticipated to be limited, with most of them related to the forthcoming capital maintenance of certain existing assets.

Considering these factors, the project is categorized as B, as the Project anticipates only potential limited adverse E&S risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The green bond issuance is up to US$300 million. IFC investment consists of a subscription to this green bond of an amount of up to US$60 million for a tenor of 5 years.

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.

The sponsor and the majority shareholder (80%) of GGU is FCC Aqualia, a Spain-based international water management company. Established in 1980, Aqualia has become the fourth-largest water company in Europe and ninth largest in the world. It acquired its stake in GGU in 2022 from Georgia Capital (GCAP), which retains the remaining 20% share of the Company. GCAP is a leading investment management company in Georgia, owned by institutional investors and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - FCC Aqualia Investor -
- - - - Georgia Global Utilities JSC Client -

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.

Georgia Global Utilities JSC
Anastasia Asatiani
Head of IR & Funding
+995 551 23 55 99
tasatiani@ggu.ge
M. Jugheli St N10, 0179 Tbilisi, Georgia
https://www.ggu.ge/

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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How it works