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EBRD supports leasing finance in Bulgaria
€3 million loan provided to Unionleasing
To support the access to finance of micro, small and medium sized companies in
Bulgaria, the EBRD is providing a €3 million loan to Unionleasing EAD. The
loan, which comes under the leasing window of the EU/EBRD SME Finance
Facility, will be complemented with up to €400,000 in grants from the European
Commission for management improvements and as performance fees.
Unionleasing, a subsidiary of Unionbank, has been established in 2001 and
today is a medium-sized leasing company focused micro and small size
companies. The company is active in equipment and transport leasing and plans
to expand its operations by developing a regional presence. It is especially
here that the demand for finance among small and medium sized enterprises
remains hardly fulfilled.
Jonathan Woollett, EBRD Director for Non-Bank Financial Institutions, said the
loan will improve the access of small and medium sized enterprises to leasing
finance and stimulate competition in the leasing sector. Eventually, this is
expected to facilitate a deeper market penetration of leasing financing in
Bulgaria. At present the local leasing sector has not achieved the same degree
of development as achieved by the banking sector.
The EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility, a joint programme of the European Commission
and the EBRD, supports the development and growth of entrepreneurs by
facilitating their access to finance. The Bank will make available funding of
€1.1 billion, of which more than €880 million has been committed to signed
projects to date. The EC has been contributing €156.75 million in grant
financing and for technical assistance since the launch of the programme in
1999. For further information about the Phare programme, the main channel for
the EU’s financial and technical cooperation with accession countries, see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement.
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