December 13, 2011. UniCredit Leasing, a unit of Italy's largest bank, provided a record 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in funding for wind and solar projects, mainly in Italy and eastern Europe. Renewable energy funding from the UniCredit SpA leasing arm rose 50 percent compared with a year earlier, driven by solar deals in Italy. That may drop to about 1 billion euros during 2012 as government cuts in feed-in tariffs amid the debt crisis dries up funding. A boom in solar installations in Italy, now the world's second-largest market, led to the introduction of a cap in subsidy spending in March. Like most European countries, Italy also cut feed-in tariffs, or guaranteed premiums for clean power. The Czech Republic and Slovakia halted all support except for residential solar. In contrast, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey approved new bills with tariffs that aim to boost clean energy investment.