DOM.RF Drives Green Financing in Russian Residential Construction
The Russian government’s classification of sustainable development projects has enabled the growth of green financial instruments in construction, carried out by DOM.RF. Among these are green bonds issued by DOM.RF Bank and green mortgage-backed securities. Marina Slutskaya, director of Sustainable Development at DOM.RF, shared these developments at the conference Mortgage Lending in Russia.
Slutskaya noted that the green GOST R standard for apartment buildings forms the foundation for green mortgages, project finance, developer and bank bonds, and mortgage-backed securities. She underscored the current strong potential for green financing in residential construction projects and highlighted that green construction includes energy efficient homes and green mortgages, among other initiatives.
She also mentioned that DOM.RF is developing guidelines for such financial instruments in partnership with the Russian government’s green finance methodology center. The March classification changes open up incentives for advancing green projects in construction. These changes could encourage the issuance of green bonds whose proceeds are used to finance or refinance loans for purchasing flats in energy efficient buildings.
According to Slutskaya, creating and expanding these mechanisms should stimulate demand for green and energy efficient construction while ensuring that projects meet the GOST R standard. DOM.RF has announced that a verification system for green standard compliance is ready for rollout. The Development Institute will operate this system and provide an evaluation process based on the Unified Housing Construction Information System UISHS. A compliance confirmation module will be added to the system, allowing developers to apply for a green passport via a personal account. Developers can already complete a preliminary scoring for compliance with the standard’s six mandatory criteria.