Early Warning System

Countries

North Macedonia

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Financial Institutions

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

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

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

Mar 21, 2025

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

NLB Bank AD Skopje (NLB SK)

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Finance
Industry and Trade

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)

$ 2.18 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 2
Converted using 2025-03-21 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 2.18 million

Bank Documents

PSD Translation (Macedonian)

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Jul 9, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Mar 21, 2025

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

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 the provision of a senior unsecured loan of up to EUR2 million under the Go Digital in the Western Balkans programme.

The transaction will support the aim of the Programme to: (i) advance innovation and competitiveness of the private sector via targeted investments and increased awareness-raising among SMEs for a higher utilisation of digitalisation and automation technologies; (ii) support the transition to a green economy ("GET technologies"); (iii) increase the capacity and trade potential of SMEs via increased access to finance to allow them to invest additional resources to introduce EU standards; and (iv) promote more equitable access to finance for automation and digitalisation investments for women-led SMEs, improving the competitiveness and sustainability of end-benecifiaries' business operations.

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.

Categorised FI (ESP 2024). NLB SK is an existing client of the Bank, and its environmental and social (E&S) performance under existing exposures has been satisfactory to date.

Investment Description

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

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

A senior unsecured loan of up to €2 million under the Go Digital in the Western Balkans programme.

Financial Intermediary

A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.

NLB Bank AD Skopje (Financial Intermediary)

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.

NLB Bank AD Skopje ("NLB SK") is a universal commercial bank and the 3rd largest bank on the market with a 15.9% market share by total assets, 17.9% by net loan portfolio and 17.6% by customer deposits as of YE2024.

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.

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION

Tijana Blazhevska
t.blazhevska@nlb.mk
+389 2 510 0867
www.nlb.mk
ul.Vodnjanska br.1 1000 Skopje Republic of North Macedonia

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html