Dentons’ Banking and Finance team in Warsaw has advised Vetroelektrane Balkana, Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company), DEG (German Investment Corporation) and Tesla Wind (Finnish Taaleri Group) in connection with the €205 million refinancing of the 158 MW Čibuk wind farm located in Mramorak, Serbia. The financing was provided by a consortium of banks consisting of UniCredit, Credit Suisse, Eurobank and OTP Bank.
The Čibuk project, developed by Vetroelektrane Balkana, is the largest wind farm in Serbia. It produces up to 457 GWh of electricity per year, enough to cover the needs of some 113,000 households, and reduces CO2 emissions by 370,000 tons per year.
Dentons’ legal advice involved comprehensive support to the borrower and the sponsors in preparing, negotiating and executing the finance documents.
“We are honored to have advised on the financing of this wind farm, which will be an important source of renewable energy and will help advance Serbia’s sustainable development goals. This deal illustrates our Warsaw team’s capabilities as a center of excellence for project finance and M&A transactions in the renewable energy sector in the CEE and SEE regions”, said Piotr Nerwiński, Partner in the Banking and Finance team in Dentons’ Warsaw office, who supervised the transaction.
In addition to Piotr Nerwiński, counsel Patrycja Polasz led the project with assistance from associate Wiktor Zień from the Banking and Finance team in Warsaw.
Vetroelektrane Balkana is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesla Wind, a joint venture in which Masdar has a 60% stake, Taaleri Group has a 30% stake, and DEG holds a 10% stake.