An ecological offer of the banks of Germany and Austria

Because of the falling since two years investment expenditures on environmental protection in Poland there are sought new, effective instruments to stimulate this market. Great hopes are connected with the banking sector which from a few years participates in the financing of the whole investment outlays for environmental protection at the level of about 14% annually. The commitment of the banks in the financing of environmental protection takes place mainly on the general principles applied in the case of investment activity. Only the Environmental Protection Bank SA has written into its statute the duty of financing environmental protection. This bank as one of the few has at its disposal an offer of preferential credits granted in cooperation with environmental protection funds. However the offer of the Polish banks is very modest in comparison with the commitment of German institutions of this sector in the financing of environmental protection. Examples in this respect are Deutsche Augleichbank and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau whose preferential offer of crediting is based on close cooperation with the German ministry of environmental protection. In Germany there function also banks whose pro-ecological activity consists of gaining the capital of physical persons (Bank für Sozialwirtschat GmbH). The widest scope of commitment to the solving of the problems of environmental protection characterizes the ethical-ecological banks (Ökobank eG and GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG). These banks take into consideration the ecological criterion both in the area of active and passive operations. An interesting example of cooperation of the banking sector with public institutions is the management of the environmental protection fund of Austria by one of the banksŠKommunalkredit Austria AG. It should be expected that shortly also Polish Banks will follow the European trends of departing from universal activity, for example in the direction of pro-ecological specialization of the offer.