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EBRD lends Raiffeisen International €52 million to support SMEs
Loan to benefit small business owners in Ukraine and Serbia
The EBRD is lending two subsidiaries of Austria’s Raiffeisen International
Bank-Holding AG, a leading international banking group in central and eastern
Europe, a total of €52 million to boost financial support for small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine and Serbia.
Bank Aval in Ukraine will use a €42 million loan to help entrepreneurs gain
more access to longer term finance to help build or expand their businesses.
In Serbia, Raiffeisen Leasing Beograd, will use a €10 million loan to enable
entrepreneurs to gain access to lease finance, supporting business growth.
Varel Freeman, EBRD First Vice President, in Vienna for the signings, said
these latest loans support a joint vision by the EBRD and Raiffeisen
International in helping more small businesses invest and expand their
activities. The two facilities further contribute to increase financial
intermediation in the region and will encourage Bank AVAL and Raiffeisen
Leasing Beograd to focus on the needs of SMEs, said Mr Freeman.
Raiffeisen International CEO Herbert Stepic, said SMEs are the backbone of
each economy and we therefore see them as a prime target to support economic
growth. The signed facilities enable us to increase our activities in this
business segment, said Mr Stepic.
The loan to Bank Aval is being provided under the EBRD’s Ukraine SME Lending
Framework, a $200 million facility for on-lending to local banks for financing
private sector micro, small and medium-size enterprises. The loan to
Raiffeisen Leasing Beograd is being provided under the EBRD’s Western Balkans
SME Finance Facility, a similar facility specifically supporting entrepreneurs
in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Technical Cooperation support for these facilities is provided by the European
Commission for the loan to Bank Aval and by the Government of Canada for the
loan to Raiffeisen Leasing Beograd.
The EBRD is one of the largest investors in central and eastern Europe having
committed more than €30 billion. Working with its partners in the region, the
Bank has mobilised a total of more than €94 billion to supported economic
growth across these countries.
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