>@EIB/To be defined

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 250 million to the Croatian Reconstruction and Development Bank (HBOR - Hrvatska Banka Za Obnovu i Razvitak) to finance the projects of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), mid-cap companies and municipalities in Croatia.

 This new type of loan is in line with the EIB's priority of strengthening its support for Europe's SMEs to help mitigate the effects of the current financial crisis. In this effort the Bank is simplifying its procedures and increasing the scope of its financing by also covering intangibles and working capital. It is enhancing transparency and working towards a more effective transfer of the advantage of EIB funds to the final beneficiary.

 This is the largest loan provided by the EIB in Croatia so far. EIB funds will finance small and medium-sized projects in the areas of industry, transport, environmental protection, energy and energy savings, infrastructure and services, including tourism.

Promoters of projects in the area of energy will benefit from grants provided by the European Commission under the Energy Efficiency Finance Facility if their project leads to a decrease in energy consumption by 20% or reduction in CO2 emissions by 20%. 

EUR 200 million of the loan will support projects implemented by SMEs (with fewer than 250 employees) and EUR 50 million will finance the projects of mid-cap companies (with more than 250 and fewer than 3 000 employees) and improve their access to long-term finance. To this end, the EIB is joining forces with well established financing institutions such as HBOR, which know the local market, have SMEs, mid-cap companies and municipalities as their customers and possess a well developed network.

The current loan represents a continuation of the successful cooperation between the EIB and HBOR. The EIB has provided three previous credit lines to this financial institution amounting to EUR 110 million supporting SME investments.

Background

The mission of the EIB, the European Union's bank promoting European objectives, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States by financing sound investment. In Croatia, being an EU Acceding Country, the EIB supports investment projects that prepare it for EU membership in terms of development of transport, energy and communication infrastructure, implementation of EU environmental standards, and support for SME and municipality investments. 

Since 2001 the EIB has provided in loans worth some EUR 1.8 billion in Croatia, including the current loan. Out of this amount, the sum of EUR 636 million consists of loans supporting the development of the entrepreneurial activities of SMEs and municipalities.