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Coffee to go: EUR7 million loan for Serbian firm's expansion
The EBRD is lending Grand Prom d.o.o., the largest manufacturer of coffee in Serbia and Montenegro, €7 million to finance the company’s cross-border expansion into neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the latest of a number of Bank projects that support local companies’ expansion plans and also promote regional trade in the Western Balkans.
The six-year loan will be the EBRD’s first to a coffee company, and will help Grand Prom build its second production plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The facility will extend the company’s reach to the Bosnian market, with a population of 3.8 million. The loan will also help Grand Prom develop further in Serbia and Montenegro.
Hans Christian Jacobsen, Director of Agribusiness at the EBRD, said the Bank is happy to support strong local companies like Grand Prom, which have ambitions to grow regionally. Grand Prom has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and the Bank’s loan will help the company both to deepen its domestic presence and to become a regional player. It is companies like this that form the backbone of a robust local economy, Mr Jacobsen added.
Established in 1997, Grand Prom purchases coffee beans internationally and produces its own coffee blends. The company markets its products under four brands: Grand Kafa Gold, Grand Kafa Rio, Grand Delux and Grand Aroma.
Slobodan Vucicevic, General Manager and owner of Grand Prom, said the EBRD loan will help the company remain the leading producer of branded packaged coffee in Serbia and Montenegro. Mr Vucicevic added that more than 2 million people in Serbia and Montenegro drink Grand Kafa every day, and through better branding, packaging and distribution, Grand Prom aims to be the brand of choice for coffee drinkers in both markets.
The EBRD has signed 196 investments worth more than €3 billion in the agribusiness sector alone across its 27 countries of operations. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Belgrade, Dragica Pilipovic-Chaffey, Director for Serbia and Montenegro at the EBRD, said this deal is part of the Bank's ongoing commitment to the region. Ms Pilipovic-Chaffey added that as reforms are put in place to further improve the business climate, the Bank will aim to work more and more with investors to help promote economic growth across the region.
The EBRD has signed 21 projects worth €484 million in Serbia and Montenegro.
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