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Raiffeisen Bank International | Sustainability Report 2018
Management Overview Foreword
of sustainability
Responsible
banker
Fair partner –
Human Resources
Fair partner –
Inhouse ecology
Engaged
citizen
GRI index and
Assurance report
Other sustainable products and services at the Vienna sites
Green Bond
In late June 2018, RBI AG successfully completed the first benchmark issue of a green bond by an
Austrian bank. The bond has a volume of € 500 million and a term of three years. With an order
volume of € 1.3 billion, the green bond was significantly oversubscribed. A project team comprising representatives
of the Cover Pool and Public Finance, Group Investor Relations, Group Sustainability Management, Group
Treasury and Legal Services Markets & Treasury departments worked intensively on the preparations for over
a year. The completion of the issue was preceded by an extensive investor roadshow through Europe.
The green bond made it possible to serve the continuous growth in demand for green investment opportunities
in line with the current global trend. The issue served to expand RBI’s investor base. Green investors focus on
long-term investments and hold investments for longer than other investor groups. The bond was also used to
finance sustainable projects in Austria and CEE. Furthermore, RBI AG has been signed up to the “Green Bond
Principles” of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) since 2014.
Financing facilities linked to sustainability targets
• A financing facility in which RBI AG participates introduced an innovative structure with performance obligations
in connection with sustainability targets for the first time in 2018. Since the one-year extension of a USD 745
million borrowing facility of the Gunvor Group, the interest rate is dependent on meeting sustainability targets.
These targets are concentrated on the areas of the environment, social impacts, and governance. Specific
topics, such as a reduction in CO2 emissions, waste, and water management, improved personal safety at
refineries and transparency reporting in connection with the origin of raw materials (within the parameters of
company support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)), play an important role.
• In December 2018, RBI AG participated in an ESG-linked syndicated loan to Verbund AG, Austria’s leading
electricity company and one of Europe’s leading hydro power generators. The syndicated loan of € 500
million has an interest rate over the entire term that is no longer based on Verbund AG’s financial rating with the
established rating agencies, but on its sustainability rating with Sustainalytics. Disregarding the established
financial rating, the incentive mechanism agreed by the banks in the loan agreement is based solely on
sustainability performance: If the borrower’s sustainability rating deteriorates, the cost of the loan increases.
Conversely, if the sustainability rating improves, the cost decreases. The Verbund Group’s business model
covers the entire value chain of an electricity company, from power generation and transportation through to
international trading and distribution. Around 95 percent of the power it generates is from renewable energy
sources, primarily hydro power but supplemented by wind power.
Incentives to renovate residential units
In the past year, Raiffeisen Bausparkasse Gesellschaft m.b.H. and the Austrian Institute of Ecology conducted a
study entitled “The homeowner’s #1 dream and climate protection targets – can they be reconciled?”. The study
looked at the exact number of single-family houses in Austria, their ecological footprint, and the measures that
can be taken to reduce it. It focused primarily on space and energy requirements. Environmentally healthy and,
above all, sustainable living requires a change of thinking among all involved, from developers to decision-makers.
This requires awareness and the necessary political conditions, but also the corresponding financing. As a
specialist institution for home financing, Raiffeisen Bausparkasse Gesellschaft m.b.H. is also the ideal partner
when it comes to financing renovation measures.
Additional incentives for performing renovation measures that benefit the environment, the economy and residents
alike were generated again in 2018 by the “Renovation Check” grant programs initiated by the Austrian federal
government. As part of their social responsibility, the Austrian building societies again took over the free processing
of the renovation check. Around 35 percent of all nationwide submissions were taken over by Raiffeisen
Bausparkasse Gesellschaft mbH for their clients, together with the Raiffeisen banks.