The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan of EUR 200m to Bankinter for financing projects implemented primarily by innovative SMEs and midcap companies (up to 3 000 employees) in Spain. The loan contract was signed this morning in Madrid by EIB Vice-President Román Escolano and Bankinter's CEO, Maria Dolores Dancausa.

Bankinter will match the EIB financing with a further EUR 200m, meaning that a total of EUR 400m will be made available to small businesses and midcaps.

This credit line is intended for the part-financing of small and medium-scale projects carried out by SMEs in the industrial and services sectors, with a large part of the project aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and innovative projects.

The EIB funds complement a guarantee provided by the European Investment Fund (EIF) and backed by Horizon 2020, the EU's framework programme for research and innovation.

The EIB agreement will provide innovative companies with long-term financing for their investments under favourable conditions. The individual loans will be used to finance investment projects of up to EUR 25m in the case of SMEs and up to EUR 50m in the case of midcaps in Spain.

In 2014, the EIB Group (including the European Investment Fund) provided EUR 25 500m in support of some 290 000 SMEs and midcaps throughout Europe. In Spain, the EIB made available EUR 7 603m in new credit lines for SMEs, benefiting more than 62 000 firms.