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EBRD, EU support small business leasing activities in Slovakia
€15 million loan helps to create competitive Slovak leasing market
Competition in Slovakia's leasing market is set to improve with the help of a €15 million loan from the EBRD to CAC Leasing, the largest leasing company in the country, which focuses specifically on providing equipment to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is the Bank's first loan to a leasing company in the Slovak Republic.
The loan will enable CAC Leasing, owned by Austria's BankAustria Creditanstalt Group, to purchase equipment ranging from vehicles and industrial machinery, to information technology and agricultural equipment, for leasing to SMEs across the country. The loan is complemented with up to €2 million from the European Union to provide staff training and improve the company's leasing polices and procedures. These funds are part of the Leasing Window of the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility, a programme of the European Union in co-operation with the EBRD, to promote SME growth and development across the EU accession candidate countries.
Jonathan Woollett, Director for Non-Bank Financial Institutions at the EBRD, who is in Slovakia to sign the project, said small and medium-sized enterprises are the building blocks for producing strong economies. He said the EBRD's loan will enable SMEs to lease equipment, which will improve their access to modern equipment and thus help strengthen their businesses.
CAC Leasing, founded in 1993, became a joint-stock company in 1997. It has five branches and six agencies spread across the Slovak Republic. Mr Woollett said the company is an excellent choice for the SME Facility as it serves the needs of this important sector, and is committed to expanding its business further.
Dr Ortwin Klapper, Chief Executive Officer of BankAustria Creditanstalt Leasing (BACA), Vienna, said the Leasing Window under the SME Facility perfectly fits the BACA Leasing Group's strategy, and it strongly supports the SME sector in the countries of central and eastern Europe.
The SME Facility was launched in 1999 under the Phare Programme - the main channel for the EU's financial and technical co-operation with the EU accession countries - with the EBRD to encourage the growth and development of SMEs by providing access to loans, leasing and equity finance through local financial intermediaries. The Leasing Window under the facility was established earlier this year. The budget earmarked for the Phare Programme as a whole is about €1.5 billion a year.
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