Slovakia metal-parts business run by a former military aircraft designer booms with good advice and financing from the EU

It was tough to get his business started, but Artur Gevorkyan’s fortunes improved a lot when he found the right financing partner.

“I remember driving once and bawling because I didn't know what to send home to my parents and sons,” he says. “I would compare those first years to walking over an abyss on a beam, where it is important not to look down."

Gevorkyan eventually got in touch with Société Générale Equipment Finance (SGEF), which provides leasing and financing to manufacturers for equipment and other production needs. SGEF had received financing from the European Investment Bank to help it back small businesses in Slovakia, like Gevorkyan. SGEF believed in Gevorkyan’s dream, offering €2.8 million in financing since 2020.

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© Gevorkyan

Artur Gevorkyan

Gevorkyan’s company, located in Vlkanová, in the centre of Slovakia, has 190 employees today. The key to this growth was working with the right partners who believe in small companies.  

“When you support small and medium enterprises,” Gevorkyan says, “they will one day become large enterprises. There is no other way."

That’s the kind of backing the European Investment Bank gives to many Slovakian companies. In 2023, the European Investment Bank financed €293 million worth of projects in Slovakia.

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