European Investment Bank and UniCredit Leasing join forces in two operations
Contracts were signed today at UniCredit’s headquarters in Milan for two loans backed by resources made available to the Italian banking group by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support investment by small and medium-sized Italian businesses and projects in the renewable energy and environmental infrastructure sectors.
The EIB has granted UniCredit Leasing two credit lines totalling EUR 550 million designed to further strengthen the firm cooperation with the company, which has enabled it to make EIB funds worth more than EUR 1 billion available to Italian firms over the past year alone. These latest contracts provide for EUR 350 million for financing investments by SMEs and EUR 200 million for supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Both lines deployed by UniCredit Leasing are guaranteed by the parent company UniCredit.
“We are delighted with the loans announced today. They will strengthen the relationship forged with UniCredit – one of the EIB’s major partners – in operations in Italy, the rest of the European Union and neighbouring countries. In our country, they will provide support for Italian businesses at a time when it is essential to nurture the green shoots of economic recovery”, said EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco, who is responsible for financing operations in Italy, Malta and the Western Balkans.
“Our strategic partnership with the European Investment Bank – added UniCredit’s Deputy CEO Sergio Ermotti – enables us to foster the growth of small and medium-sized Italian businesses by providing them with fresh financial resources on an ongoing basis. This is fully in line with our group’s central objectives of meeting customers’ needs and actively supporting Italy’s economic and industrial system.”
Background information:
The European Investment Bank (EIB)
The European Investment Bank supports the policy and strategic objectives of the European Union by providing long-term loans for economically viable projects. The EIB’s shareholders are the EU’s 27 Member States. Italy is one of the four major shareholders, together with the United Kingdom, Germany and France (each holding 16.2% of the capital).
UniCredit
The UniCredit Group is one of Europe’s leading financial groups. It has a strong presence in 22 countries and a comprehensive international network spread across some 50 markets, with 9 600 branches and more than 162 000 employees at 30 July 2010.
It operates via the most extensive banking network in central and eastern Europe, with nearly 4 000 branches.
The Group is active in the following countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine and Hungary.
UniCredit Leasing is Europe’s leading value creator in the asset financing market. Firmly established in 17 countries, it offers its customers a strong team of professionals and an integrated operating network that can mount operations at both local and international level. Its products are distributed through a multi-channel system either directly or via branches of the UniCredit Group’s banks, as well as by specialised vendors and partners. www.unicreditleasing.it