- The loan to Bancpost Romania will finance small and medium-scale projects promoted by SMEs in various sectors of industry, agriculture, tourism and services. This is the second intermediated loan provided by the EIB to Bancpost, following a good track record with the previous EIB loan of EUR 20 million in 2006, which was used to finance projects promoted by Romanian municipalities. It is also viewed as a further extension of the EIB’s relationship with the Eurobank EFG Group, with which the Bank is engaged in extensive cooperation in South-East Europe.
- The loan to EFG Leasing Romania will support smaller projects in Romania in the areas of industry, services including tourism, agriculture, health, energy and environmental protection, usually promoted by SMEs, with up to 30% also being available to finance the projects of mid-cap enterprises and public sector entities. This is the EIB’s third operation in Romania with a financial institution operating in the leasing sector. In the framework of this loan, EFG Leasing Romania will also benefit from the SME Finance Facility, a special grant scheme promoted by the European Commission focused on further developing strong and competitive small and medium-sized enterprises in Romania, providing the EIB’s partner financial institutions with incentives to lend to SMEs.
EIB loans for SMEs are aimed at reducing the impact of the current economic crisis by improving access to medium and long-term funds on advantageous financial terms. To these ends the EIB has also simplified its procedures and is broadening the scope of its financing by also covering intangible types of investment and working capital. In addition, it is increasing transparency by working towards a more effective transfer of the advantage of EIB funds to the final beneficiaries.
Background:
The task of the EIB, the European Union’s financing institution, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States by financing sound investment.
Through its credit lines to financial institutions, the EIB funds projects usually implemented by SMEs (with fewer than 250 employees) and by mid-cap companies or municipalities. To increase the access of SMEs to long-term financing, the EIB closely cooperates with local financial institutions that have local market expertise, particularly in providing services to businesses through a well-developed network. Since 1990, the EIB has signed loan contracts in Romania amounting to some EUR 6.6 billion, of which some EUR 530 million (including the current loans) has supported SME and municipality projects.