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Poland’s small and medium-sized enterprises receive EBRD support
A EUR 10 million credit line from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Bank Slaski (BSK) will boost Poland’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Provided under the SME Finance Facility signed by the EBRD and the European Commission in April 1999, this financing is the second loan to a Polish bank following the EUR 10 million credit line extended to Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy at the end of last year.
BSK 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 programme. Both are being funded by the European Commission.
"Support for SMEs through a strategic, country-specific approach is one of the main priorities of the EBRD in its work to foster transition to market economies in central and eastern Europe," said Kurt Geiger, the EBRD’s Business Group Director, Financial Institutions. "This credit line under the SME Finance Facility will address the lack of term financing for small and medium-sized businesses, and will promote their development in Poland and other European Union accession countries."
With a five-year maturity, the EUR 10 million credit line will allow BSK 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.
BSK was formed in 1989 when the National Bank of Poland was divided into nine regional branches. In 1994 Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING) became a shareholder and since then it has acquired a majority stake. It is a universal bank with headquarters in Katowice and serves primarily south-western Poland. BSK has almost 7,000 employees. In 1998, BSK was ranked in the top ten of Polish banks in terms of total equity and total assets. ING is one of the largest foreign investors in Poland’s financial sector.
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