Early Warning System

Countries

Poland

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

Feb 21, 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

Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polpharma S.A.; Windstorm Trading and Investments Limited

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

Sectors

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)

$ 159.76 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 147.65
Converted using 2024-02-21 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 788.92 million

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Apr 12, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Feb 23, 2024

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
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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 long-term financing to Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polpharma S.A. ("Polpharma") and Windstorm Trading and Investments Limited (together referred to as the "Group", the "Client") as part of a larger syndicate to support an investment program involving business expansion and R&D activities of both generics and biologics divisions of the Group, as well as for general corporate purposes and refinancing.

The project will strengthen the Group's position in Poland, Central and Eastern Europe and other export markets and increase its global presence through value added products. The investments into the new biological products will allow the Group to establish region-leading competencies in advanced pharmaceutical production and facilitate the global commercialization of its pipeline of biological therapeutics in partnership with the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, thus entering currently unavailable market segments.

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 B (ESP 2019). Environmental and social risks associated with capex investment at existing operational sites and R&D expenditure in the highly regulated pharma industry are site specific and can be readily mitigated.

Investment Description

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

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

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.

Polpharma is among the 20 largest generics companies in the world. The company has 7 production plants in Poland, Russia and Kazakhstan, and 7 centers of research and development. Polpharma Group's portfolio includes about 600 products, and another 200 are under development. Polpharma SA specializes in cardiology, gastroenterology and neurology. A significant part of the product portfolio are the medications available over the counter (OTC). The company offer also includes dietary supplements, medical devices, cosmetics and herbal medicines.

Windstorm is a privately owned investment and holding company located in the ancient town of Larnaca on the southern coast of Cyprus.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	WINDSTORM TRADING AND INVESTMENTS LIMITED	Client	-
-	-	-	-	ZAKLADY FARMACEUTYCZNE POLPHARMA SA	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.

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION

Magdalena Rzeszotalska
magdalena.rzeszotalska@polpharma.com
00 48 607 696 473
www.polpharma.pl

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