The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a EUR 25 million loan to support the Sapec group’s research, development and innovation (RDI) programme relating to plant protection and nutrition products. The finance contract was signed today by EIB Vice-President Román Escolano, António Marques, CFO and Board Member of Sapec Group and Nuno Loureiro, CFO and Board Member of Agrobusiness (Sapec Agro e Tradecorp) in Lisbon.

The funds will contribute to the financing of RDI activities with a focus on innovative chemical and biological plant protection and nutrition for agricultural use. Part of the funds will also target the modernisation of existing production sites in Portugal and Spain.

The EIB loan to Sapec Agro SA (Portugal) and Tradecorp International SA (Spain) will strengthen the market position of the companies by providing them with a well-diversified product portfolio and upgraded facilities and help to increase production capacity. The activities under the RDI programme will run until 2018 and be carried out at the promoters’ production sites and technological centres in Setúbal, Portugal, and Albacete and Ávila, Spain. In addition, the promoters will collaborate with universities and RDI contractors in the European Union (EU).

Román Escolano, EIB Vice-President responsible for operations in Portugal and Spain, highlighted “the focus on the primary sector of this first operation with Sapec, and its attractive price and long tenor” and further stressed “the importance for the EU of fostering RDI investments as they help to strengthen competitiveness and growth in the long term and create jobs in the short term.”

This long-term loan reflects the EIB’s commitment to supporting RDI and is in line with the EU’s priority objectives under the Horizon 2020 programme to improve innovation and research, boost competitiveness and foster job creation.