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EBRD promotes growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland
Under the SME Finance Facility signed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Commission in April, a EUR 10.0 million credit line is being provided by the EBRD to Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK) to support the growth of Poland’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
WBK will also benefit from a substantial technical cooperation package aimed at developing an SME lending programme and a grant to help cover the costs of building this business. Both are being funded by the European Commission.
"The SME Finance Facility is an important initiative which aims to address the lack of term financing for small and medium-sized businesses, and to promote their development in Poland and other European Union accession countries," said Steven Kaempfer, the EBRD’s Vice President, Finance. "WBK is one of the EBRD’s longest-standing and most successful clients. It has been chosen because of its commitment to introducing small loans into its ongoing business, its good financial performance and its broad client base throughout Poland. The EBRD regards WBK as a serious partner in developing the Polish SME sector and in furthering the country’s integration into the European Union."
With a six-year maturity, the EUR 10.0 million credit line will allow WBK to incorporate lending to SMEs into its ongoing business activities. It will also provide much-needed term funding to SMEs to ensure the sector’s further growth. The EU-Phare’s two-year technical cooperation programme will be used to provide long-term credit advisors and experts in various fields and will also cover staff training costs at the start of the lending programme.
WBK was formed in 1989 when the National Bank of Poland was divided into nine regional branches. It is a universal bank with headquarters in Poznan and serves primarily the western part of Poland. WBK has 4,400 employees and its aim is to increase its retail-banking activities. In 1994, the EBRD took part in WBK’s privatisation, later selling its stake to a strategic investor, Allied Irish Bank (AIB). In 1998, WBK was ranked in the top ten of Polish banks in terms of total equity and total assets. In Poland, AIB also holds an 80 per cent shareholding in Wroclaw-based Bank Zachodni.
Phare is currently the main channel for the European Union’s financial and technical cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe. Along with private sector privatisation and restructuring, Phare commitments to SMEs between 1990 and 1998 amounted to EUR 12.0 billion.
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