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Romanian businesses benefit from more lease financing
€5 million EBRD loan for BT Leasing Transilvania
The EBRD is lending Romania’s BT Leasing Transilvania IFN S.A. (BTL), a
subsidiary of Banca Transilvania (BT), €5 million to finance small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the country.
The EBRD loan will enable BTL to onlend finance of up to €125,000 to new SME
clients. The loan is being provided under the leasing window of the EU/EBRD
SME Finance Facility, funded jointly by the EU and the EBRD.
Kurt Geiger, EBRD Business Group Director for Financial Institutions, said
that Romanian SMEs need access to more affordable financial mechanisms and the
development of this segment is critical for the economy. The project will have
a demonstration effect for other leasing companies that are envisaging
entering or deepening their presence in the SME leasing market.
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. Under this regional project covering 11
countries, the EBRD will make available funding of €1.1 billion, of which
€1,041.5 million has been committed to signed projects to date.
The European Commission has contributed €157 million in grant financing and
technical assistance since the launch of the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility in
1999. The Phare programme is the main channel for the EU’s financial and
technical cooperation with accession countries.
BTL has a proven track record in financing SMEs and has demonstrated strong
growth while maintaining a high quality lease portfolio. The company’s
long-term sustainability as an SME sector financier is supported by backing
from the ultimate shareholder, BT, in which the EBRD has a 15 per cent stake.
Titus Nicoara, General Director of BTL, said that BTL is an established
regional lease finance provider in Romania and this loan will help our
company’s goal of building a large countrywide SME portfolio in the micro and
small business sector. This will in turn help strengthen the country’s
economy, said Nicoara.
Ionuţ Pătrăhău, Deputy General Manager of Banca Transilvania, said that as a
major shareholder in BT Leasing, Banca Transilvania will support the
initiative of this company to meeting the development needs of the SMEs. We
believe that the bank is an example in this respect, being well-known to
everybody its orientation towards SMEs and the confidence in the Romanian
entrepreneurial spirit, Pătrăhău said.
For further information, see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement.
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