|
EBRD and EU support SME finance at PKO Bank Polski
€20 million facility will strengthen country's small-business sector
To support Poland's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EBRD is lending €20 million to PKO Bank Polski S.A., the country's largest retail bank. The loan is complemented by financial support of up to €3.8 million from the European Commission for financial incentives, staff training and institution-building initiatives via the Phare Programme.
The loan is being provided through the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility, a programme of the European Commission in cooperation with the EBRD to facilitate access to finance for smaller businesses and to promote their growth and development. SMEs are of critical importance for economic growth, accounting for more than 50 per cent of employment and GDP in many countries of central and eastern Europe.
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Vice President of the EBRD, said that the loan will help SMEs in Poland successfully compete in an increasingly open and challenging market. She said projects like this will help small businesses in Poland obtain the reliable and medium-term funding they need. Ms Gronkiewicz-Waltz underlined that this is the EBRD's first joint project with PKO Bank Polski and added that the Bank is pleased to be working with its new Polish partner.
Andrzej Podsiadlo, President of PKO Bank Polski, ensured that the bank would put funds to good use. "We are a leading institution servicing small and medium companies," he stressed, with a market share of about 25 percent in this segment. "Our experience and the largest branch network shall ensure that we have attractive and widely available offerings for the SME clients", he said.
The EU/EBRD SME Facility was launched in April 1999 under the Phare Programme of the European Commission with the EBRD, to encourage the growth and development of SMEs by providing access to loans, leasing and equity finance from local financial intermediaries in the EU-accession countries of central and eastern Europe. It has so far channeled more than €710 million (€600 million from the EBRD and €110 million from the EU) to SMEs in the respective countries.
The Phare Programme is one of the main channels for the EU's financial and technical cooperation with the future member countries of the Union. It foresees annual allocations of €1.5 billion for the eligible countries through 2006. Phare has provided assistance of €3.5 billion to Poland so far.
Through the SME Facility, the EBRD has provided around €160 million to banks and leasing companies for the financing of SMEs in Poland. More than 5,000 loans totalling €139 million have been extended.
|
