EBRD Gives €250m Green Loan to Owner of Sofia's Paradise and Serdika Malls

EBRD's €250m Loan to NEPI Rockcastle's Bulgarian Mall Unit

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is extending a €250 million green loan to NE Property, the subsidiary through which NEPI Rockcastle owns two of Sofia's largest shopping centres: Paradise Center and Serdika Center.

The facility is unsecured, runs for eight years and matures in 2034. The full amount has been agreed and can be drawn down until the end of March 2027, with funds earmarked mainly for Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary. The money can support new retail projects as well as modernisation and expansion of existing properties.

To access the financing, projects must meet internationally recognised standards or achieve measurable reductions in energy consumption and carbon footprint. NEPI Rockcastle describes itself as the largest owner, operator and investor in Central and Eastern European shopping centres, with a portfolio of €8.2 billion across 60 properties in eight countries.

The package also includes a multi-year training programme for more than 300 NEPI Rockcastle employees covering digital skills, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and environmental management.

Why EBRD Is Financing NEPI Rockcastle's Green Retail Shift

Why EBRD is Lending to NEPI Rockcastle

The loan is explicitly structured as green financing aligned with the Paris Agreement. That means the bank is not only providing liquidity; it is attaching conditions that require the borrower to prove each funded project improves environmental and energy performance. For NEPI Rockcastle, the eight-year unsecured facility also extends its debt maturity into 2034, giving the group a longer runway to modernise assets across its core Central and Eastern European markets.

What This Means for Bulgarian Retail Property

Bulgaria is named as one of the main investment markets, alongside Romania, Poland and Hungary. Because the borrower owns Paradise Center and Serdika Center, the financing makes additional energy-efficiency or expansion work at those Sofia assets possible. NEPI Rockcastle has also said it will apply the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings standard to new projects, suggesting that future development in the region will be measured against a stricter carbon benchmark rather than only against local building rules.

The Training Component Signals a Broader Shift

The agreement is not limited to physical property. It includes training in digital skills, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and environmental management for more than 300 employees. That combination of green capital and workforce upskilling suggests the transition being financed is operational as well as physical: from how buildings are managed and data is used, to how staff are prepared for more demanding environmental standards.

Next Moves for NEPI Rockcastle, Tenants and Investors

• For NEPI Rockcastle management: Build a drawdown-ready project pipeline before March 2027 concentrated in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, with energy-use and carbon-reduction metrics attached to each asset to meet EBRD's green eligibility conditions.
• For retail tenants in the named malls: Ask property managers whether Paradise Center or Serdika Center is included in the modernisation programme, since the loan can fund expansion and retrofit work but the article does not specify which assets will receive funds first.
• For investors: Track whether NEPI Rockcastle discloses which projects meet the Paris-aligned criteria and whether the 300-person training programme is delivered as the facility is drawn, because those details will show whether the green loan's conditions are being met.