SHANGHAI, April 20. /TASS/. The New Development Bank (NDB), created by the BRICS countries, placed three-year "green" bonds on international capital markets in the amount of $1.25 billion. This is according to a statement the bank’s press service released on Thursday.

The bank indicated that these are the first "green" bonds issued by the NBR in US dollars. The issue was made as part of the $50 billion medium-term Eurobond program, which was registered by the bank in December 2019. Proceeds from the issuance of bonds will be used to finance or refinance relevant "green" projects, as provided for by the sustainable financing policy of the NDB.

"We are pleased with the strong investor reception and high quality orderbook achieved for our new $1.25 bln 3-year Green Bond. With this transaction, NDB has successfully re-tapped into the USD bond market. Our investors have demonstrated their solid confidence in NDB’s credit, and our green and sustainable mandate. The Bank has a robust pipeline of green and sustainable projects in all our member countries to finance," NDB Vice President and CFO, Mr. Leslie Maasdorp said as quoted by the bank’s press service.

The agreement on establishing the BRICS New Development Bank was reached on July 15, 2014 in Brazil’s Fortaleza. The bank’s starting capital was set at $100 bln. The Shanghai-headquartered bank has been set up to finance infrastructure projects and projects for sustainable development of BRICS and other developing countries. The bank previously received international credit ratings of "AA +" from Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, which allow it to effectively attract long-term funding in international and local capital markets. Over the years, the bank has approved almost 100 projects totaling $32.8 billion in support of such areas as transport, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, and urban construction.