Early Warning System

Countries

Latvia

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

Sep 9, 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

CITADELE BANKA AS

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

Sectors

Finance

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)

$ 5.85 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 5
Converted using 2025-09-09 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 351.07 million

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Nov 11, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Oct 20, 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, in September 2025, EBRD invested EUR 5 million in senior preferred bonds placed by Citadele Banka AS as part of its EUR 300 million international issuance listed on Euronext Dublin stock exchange. The bonds have a 4.25-year maturity with a call option in 3.25-year time.

The project supports green economy in Latvia and strengthens Citadele's climate practices. It also supports capital market issuances by Baltic banks and contributes to the robustness of a systemic bank in Latvia against market and regulatory shocks.

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). Citadele, an existing client, has demonstrated satisfactory environmental and social (E&S) performance under its current exposure. The proceeds will be used for a series of senior preferred bonds, 100% of the EBRD financing is classified as green finance, as it supports activities to achieve climate mitigation objectives. The attribution is made in line with the methodology to determine the green finance attribution of EBRD investments - it is considered low to medium risk from an E&S perspective.

Investment Description

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

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

EUR 5 million in senior preferred bonds placed by the client.

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.

Citadele Banka AS (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.

Citadele is the 3rd largest bank in Latvia with total assets of EUR 5.1 billion, accounting for 16.6% market share as of end-2024 and with strategic focus on retail and SME banking in the Baltic countries. The bank has its main operations based in Latvia, with a branch in Lithuania and in Estonia. Citadele's rating is Baa2 (stable) by Moody's.

As of end-2024 73.9% shares in Citadele are owned by a consortium of international investors represented by Ripplewood Advisors LLC, 24.6% shares are owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and 1.5% shares are owned by the management, employees, and other investors.

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.

Vladislav Ender
vlad.ender@citadele.ee

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