|
EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility expands to Croatia
€10 million loan to Hrvatska Postanka Banka
Hrvatska Postanka Banka d.d. has become the first Croatian bank to join the
EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility. The EBRD is extending a €10 million loan to the
state-owned Croatian bank for on-lending to small and medium-sized
enterprises. The loan will be complemented by a €1.4 million grant from the
European Commission for technical assistance and performance-based fees.
The expansion of SMEs is critical to the growth and development of the
Croatian economy, but to date access to finance is still difficult for many
small enterprises. Hrvatska Postanka Banka is now focusing on this sector and
committed to long term and sustainable SME financing. The EBRD’s involvement
will not only provide longer-term funding, but will also foster the
development of Hrvatska Postanka Banka.
Under the project micro sub-loans of up to €30,000 will be made available to
local Croatian companies with less than 10 employees and small sub-loans of up
to €125,000 will be provided to companies with up to 100 employees. All
sub-borrowers will have majority private ownership and control and be
registered and operated locally.
Charlotte Ruhe, EBRD Director for Croatia, said the Bank welcomes the
expansion of the successful SME programme to Croatia. Under the joint facility
with the European Commission significant progress in strengthening this key
sector has been achieved in many countries. Now also Croatia stands to reap
the benefits of the SME sector’s further growth.
“Providing support to SMEs is a key strategy of HPB that will also help
strengthen the Croatian economy. We will increase our support for SMEs through
the development of new, tailor made programs, developed according to their
needs. We believe that with the help of this loan we will become even more
accessible to entrepreneurs and make their projects more easily attainable”,
stated Josip Protega, HPB CEO.
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 the programme, the Bank will make
available funding of €1.35 billion, of which €1,061.5 million has been
committed to signed projects to date. The EC has contributed €156.75 million
in grant financing 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.
|
