The project sponsor is Gintas, which was established in 1979 and is based in Bursa, Turkey. Gintas is a successful family-owned construction company involved in civil construction (residential and commercial properties, shopping centers), military facilities, and infrastructure projects (wastewater treatment, bridges, road and telecom networks). Besides Turkey and Montenegro, Gintas is active in Albania.

Gintas will own 100% of the project company.

The total project cost is approximately €30.7 million, and IFC has been asked to provide a financing package of up to €10 million to help finance the project.

The proposed IFC investment is a EURO 5 million A loan and a EURO 5 million C Loan.

15.04 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	15.04
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The proposed project will be developed in the central part of Podgorica, in the location of the well known Green Market (Velika Pijaca). The project is surrounded by mid end residential neighborhoods and at the crossroads of two important traffic arteries. The position of the project will assure important foot and car traffic from the immediate and surrounding areas of the city.

The project will increase the revenue stream of the Municipality of Podgorica, provide private sector management experience to the Municipality and the environment, and contribute towards increased taxes to the national government. In addition, the project will:

- provide new shops for direct employment to more than 900 people in addition to indirect jobs.
- have a multiplier effect on the local economy and generate demand for a wide range of goods and services from food to building materials to security and maintenance personnel.
- supply quality commercial space and introduce a mixed-use shopping mall in Montenegro, which will set standards for offices and commercial centers.
- result in the remediation of the hygienic conditions of the old bazaar and set the standards for the region.

- Long-term financing:

IFC will be providing the project with long-term financing which is not readily available in the market. IFC will be providing loans with a 9 year maturity, including mezzanine debt which will complement the project’s cash generation profile.

- Political risk mitigation:

IFC will support the sponsor in its first south-south investment in Montenegro, a post-conflict country that has recently achieved independence.

- Improved business standards:

IFC will help to improve Montenegro’s commercial property business standards by supporting a company committed to meeting the highest standards in connection with corporate governance, auditing practices, environmental and social practices. IFC will also help the sponsor to improve its accounting practices by introducing international audit practices.

Montenegro Mall is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental and social review procedure. A summary of IFC’s environmental and social review findings for the project including the rationale for the B categorization will shortly be publicly available in the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) disclosed through IFC’s project website (http://www.ifc.org/projects). The Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP), which is attached to the ESRS, contains specific tasks that the client will undertake to mitigate perceived risks and impacts from the project, and to ensure compliance with IFC’s Performance Standards.

The main EHS aspects of the proposed projects are: land acquisition and planning procedures; environmental engineering and safety engineering principles during the siting and construction phase, labor and working conditions; management of environmental issues and impacts during operation, wastewater disposal, solid waste management; hazardous materials management, life and fire safety related aspects of building design and operation, including emergency response procedures, energy efficiency, and community health and safety during construction and utilization phase.