The European Investment Bank (EIB) is granting two global loans to Raiffeisenbank a.s. and Raiffeisen Leasing Real Estate, s.r.o. for EUR 30 million and EUR 15 million respectively.
Global loans are credit lines to banks or other financial institutions, which onlend the funds to small or medium-scale investment projects meeting EIB's criteria. The global loans signed today will be used for financing SMEs in industry, tourism and other services, as well as smaller local government projects for the ptotection of the environment and to save energy. Raiffeisenbank and Raiffeisen Leasing Real Estate will lend to projects with total investment ranging from EUR 40,000 to EUR 25 million, and with durations of four years or more.
Commenting on the strong development of EIB lending to SMEs in the new EU-Members, EIB Vice-President Wolfgang Roth said: EIB's global loans to Raiffeisenbank and Raiffeisen Leasing Real Estate are another step in EIB's strategy to substantially raise its support for SMEs and smaller scale infrastructure projects in the future EU Members in Central Europe. They will further increase the volume and duration of the lending to SMEs and municipalities in these countries and ensure lasting competition among EIB's partner banks for the benefit of their clients.'
For decades EIB worked closely with selected banks inside the EU to bring EIB finance to smaller-scale projects in the present Member States. As many of these banks are now active in Central Europe, EIB builds on these long-time relationships for channelling similarly advantageous funds to SMEs and local authorities in the future EU States. Last year some 350 SMEs in the region received a total of EUR 233 million to finance a vast variety of investments.
The EIB was set up in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome to lend to projects furthering European Union policies. While strengthening weaker EU regions has always been its main goal, the Bank also lends to projects outside the European Union under the Union's co-operation policy toward third countries. Since 1990, nearly € 20 billion were lent to projects in the ten Central European countries which have applied for EU membership. Owned by the Member States, the EIB raises the bulk of its funds on the capital markets worldwide where its bond issues regularly benefit from the Bank's 'AAA' credit rating. In Central Europe as in the EU, the EIB finances large projects with direct loans and smaller investment through global loans, using the networks of thirty partner banks.