Catalyzing green transformation

Uzbekistan, a doubly landlocked country, is grappling with escalating climate risks. Extreme heat, droughts, floods, avalanches and water shortages have become regular occurrences, exacerbated by rapid population growth. The frequency of heatwaves, with temperatures surpassing 39°C, poses severe threats to agriculture, energy, and daily life.

As a former Soviet industrial hub, Uzbekistan’s outdated infrastructure contributes to one of the highest levels of energy intensity globally, hampering its ambitious economic development plans. The country is under pressure to decarbonize its economy and modernize its infrastructure. Despite this pressing need, scaling renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) solutions has been a major challenge. Subsidized electricity prices and limited awareness among both financial institution and end-borrowers have hampered the wide adoption of green finance solutions.

Uzbekistan is ready for change. At TBC Uzbekistan, we want to show that digital innovation and green finance can work hand in hand.

Spartak Tetrashvili, CEO of TBC Bank Uzbekistan

GCPF’s expanding footprint in Uzbekistan: Portfolio approach to country- wide climate impact

Working hand-in-hand with several leading private banks that focus on different client segments and lending areas in Uzbekistan, GCPF is using several leavers to catalyze change in a country that has the potential for a profound green transformation.

First footprint: 2022 – Joining forces with two leading private banks

HamkorBank and Ipak Yuli Bank are highly committed to supporting Uzbekistan in implementing its green transformation agenda, but both banks lack internal know-how regarding green lending. From the beginning, the GCPF partnership focused on helping both banks identify and promote green lending opportunities, starting at first with easy-to-identify climate-friendly solutions such as electric cars, and gradually expanding to tackle green lending in realtively complex sectors, such as manufacturing.

Both banks utilized disbursed green loans ahead of the schedule across the various lending areas, including climate-friendly transport (electric cars and compressed natural gas heavy duty vehicles), as well as rooftop solar PVs and energy efficiency solutions for the MSMEs.

Partnership with the GCPF enables TBC Uzbekistan to accelerate its growth within the country and offer a broad range of innovative and climate-friendly products to the population. This collaboration represents our commitment to integrating green financing into our digital banking strategy in Uzbekistan.
– David Gabelashvili, CFO, TBC Uzbekistan

2023: Pioneering a digital-first approach to green finance

In 2023, GCPF partnered with TBC Uzbekistan, the leading digital bank in the country, serving around 1.6m active customers on monthly basis. This is our first partnership with a fully digital bank, demonstrating the flexibility and potential of climate finance to adapt to future-forward banking models, merging digital innovation with environmental responsibility. GCPF has played a key role in this transformation, offering expertise and support.

The partnership with the bank led the Fund pilot assessing green eligibility of household white-goods by energy-efficiency labels (instead of equipment models) . Following the finalization of the baseline study, the GCPF will support TBC Uzbekistan in promoting energy efficient household technologies by launching promotional campaigns to mass retail market.