The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a EUR 50 million loan to Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. (NLB) to finance the investment projects of small and medium-sized enterprises and municipalities in Slovenia.

This loan will particularly serve to finance small and medium-sized projects in the fields of energy, energy saving, environmental protection, health and education infrastructure, urban renewal, social housing, creative and cultural services and tourism.

EIB loans to partner banks are a successful tool for providing long-term finance for smaller projects of SMEs and municipalities. The EIB uses its capacity to raise funds on the international capital markets on favourable terms, then on-lends these funds to partner banks which in turn extend attractive loans to their clients. This makes it possible to combine the EIB's financial strength with the partner bank's knowledge of the region and clients. The EIB has well-developed cooperation with NLB, Slovenia's major bank with an extensive network of branches, having earlier provided two such credit lines amounting to EUR 100 million to support investments made by Slovenian SMEs and municipalities.

Under this global loan, NLB is also expected to benefit from the SME Finance Facility and the Municipal Investment Facility. Both facilities are special schemes promoted by the EU Phare Programme. The objective of the SME FF is to increase financing for the smaller segment of the SME market on supportive terms. It provides the partner banks with incentives to further develop a strong and competitive SME sector in the new Member States. The MIF in Slovenia aims to contribute to the environmentally sustainable social and economic development of Slovenian regions bordering with Austria and Italy by supporting the development of smaller infrastructure investments.

EIB loans to partner banks are used to finance projects by municipalities and in the SME sector with a total investment higher than EUR 40 000 and less than EUR 25 million. EIB partner banks, such as NLB, on-lend EIB funds under their own management, at their own risk and on their own terms.

Since 1990, the EIB has provided loans, including the current one, to partner banks in Slovenia amounting to EUR 275 million, representing approximately 15% of overall EIB lending (EUR 1.9 billion) in the country over the period. In the near future the Bank will sign a loan contract for EUR 300 million for the construction of various sections of Slovenian motorways totalling approx. 50 km.