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EBRD helps expansion of Slovenia leasing
Credit line to SKB Leasing to help farms and rural small enterprises
The EBRD is providing a loan of up to €7 million to SKB Leasing of Slovenia
for the financing of leases to farms and rural small enterprises in rural
areas. The loans, which come under the rural leasing sub-window of the EU/EBRD
SME Finance Facility, will be complemented with grants from the European
Commission for training and management improvements and with performance fees.
The new loan builds on SKB Leasing’s successful track record, after an earlier
€10 million loan for SME financing, signed in September 2004, which had been
over 90 per cent distributed to final customers by December 2005. As access to
finance remains difficult for small enterprises in central and eastern Europe,
leasing is one of the few available sources to support the development of this
vital economic segment. SKB Leasing intends to expand its business to a rural
market niche which, so far, has been out of reach of leasing companies.
SKB Leasing’s ownership consolidation in 2003 and subsequent restructuring
brought the company back to profitability in 2004 and boosted new business
volume. SKB Leasing has become the fourth biggest leasing company in Slovenia
with the forecasted turnover of €80 million in 2005. SKB bank, the owner of
SKB Leasing, has recently increased the company’s capital by €15 million.
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 €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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