White & Case has advised the Polish Ministry of Finance on its EUR 750 million issuance of Green Bonds with a profitability of 0.634 percent and an annual return of 0.5 percent. HSBC — sole green structuring adviser, as well as a bookrunner — was advised by Clifford Chance.
According to White & Case, this marks the first ever issuance of Green Bonds by a government issuer. The five-year euro-denominated bonds have a maturity date of December 20, 2021 and were issued on December 20, 2016 in line with the program for the issuance of euro medium term notes. The bonds were admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange's regulated market, and to listing on the Luxembourg Green Segment (the LuxSE's new platform dedicated exclusively to green securities).
Funds from the issuance will be allocated to environmentally friendly investments in accordance with the requirements of the Green Bond Framework prepared by the Ministry of Finance on the basis of the international standards of the ICMA Green Bond Principles. In particular, the funds may be used for financing budget expenditures in 2017 corresponding to the above criteria, or for the refinancing of similar expenditures incurred during the years 2014-2016.
The Warsaw-based White & Case team advising on the transaction was led by Local Partner Andrzej Sutkowski, supported by Associate Katarzyna Grodziewicz.
The Clifford Chance team included David Dunnigan and Poppy Mitchell in London and Warsaw Managing Partner Grzegorz Namiotkiewicz and Counsel Grzegorz Abram in Poland.
