EBRD supports Lantmännen to expand bakery operations in Romania

EBRD lends €90 million to support bakery producer Lantmännen Unibake Romania Loan to finance construction of new state of the art bakery production facility in Bucharest Bakery will be one of Lantmännen’s largest facilities, built in line with leading sustainability standards.        The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending €90 million to support Swedish Lantmännen Group’s expansion plans in Romania.   Lantmännen Group is an agricultural cooperative and Northern Europe’s leader in agriculture, machinery, bioenergy and food products. It is owned by 18,000 Swedish farmers, employs around 10,000 people and has operations in over 20 countries. The group owns Lantmännen Unibake, a bakery company that operates more than 30 bakeries globally. Its Romanian subsidiary, Lantmännen Unibake Romania, is an established producer of frozen bakery products in the country.   The EBRD’s investment will be used to finance the construction of Lantmännen Unibake Romania’s new state of the art bakery facility in Bucharest, which will serve as a central production hub supplying countries in Central and Southeast Europe. The new facility will be constructed in line with the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition building requirements, supporting Lantmännen’s wider sustainability agenda including Lantmännen Unibake’s decarbonisation commitments validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).   Once completed, the facility will be one of the largest bakery operations within Lantmännen Unibake. It will unlock the export potential of bakery products in Romania, one of Europe’s largest wheat exporters, and support the modernisation of the bakery sector in the country.   To support improved skills and training as well as access to employment opportunities, Lantmännen will also implement a vocational training programme for young men and women, enabling work-based learning in food production.   The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Romania.   To date, the EBRD has invested €10.5 billion through 515 projects in the country, focussing on financing infrastructure, boosting private sector productivity and further developing the financial sector and capital markets. In 2022, more than 61 per cent of the EBRD’s investments in Romania were in the green economy.