|
First direct loan to private Kosovar company
EBRD lends €1.3 million to Euro Fat
The EBRD is providing its first direct loan to a private company in Kosovo to
help local entrepreneurs finance the expansion of their existing business.
The €1.3 million loan will enable the limited liability company Euro Fat, set
up in June this year, to purchase equipment for the production of polystyrene
insulating panels which will more than double the company’s current production
and meet increasing demand. The loan falls under the recently established
EBRD-Italy Western Balkans Local Enterprise Facility (WB LEF) which provides
individual investments in the range of €1-4 million.
Claudio Viezzoli, EBRD Director for the Western Balkans, said this project
demonstrates that even small, but profitable and well managed companies which
show strong commitment to corporate governance can still benefit from EBRD
financing. Long term loans of more than €1 million are rarely available in
Kosovo, and this loan is expected to encourage local banks to provide such
finance to Kosovar companies.
The EBRD-Italy WB LEF is an investment facility established by the EBRD
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with financial
contributions and support from the Italian government. WB LEF is contributing
to the economic recovery of selected Western Balkan countries (Albania,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo) through the
provision of mainly equity and quasi equity financing to small and medium
local enterprises.
The EBRD was one of the first International Financial Institutions to begin
operating in Kosovo following the conflict in 1999 and set up a local office
in Pristina in 2001 to promote investments and economic growth.
|
