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Poland’s BGZ joins EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility
€15 million loan to support rural finance
The EBRD is providing a €15 million loan to Poland’s Bank Gospodarki
Żywnościowej S.A. (BGZ). The finance will be used for lending to farmers and
small businesses in rural areas, where BGZ has its strongest presence. The
loan comes under the rural sub-window of the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility and
will be complemented by technical assistance and financial incentives from the
European Commission.
BGZ is the leading bank in Poland’s agricultural sector. Following
privatisation in December 2004 the bank aims to build on its strengths and
offer more services to companies and agricultural producers in rural areas,
where access to finance is still a significant impediment to growth.
Malgorzata Kolakowska, EBRD Director for Poland, said the loan will introduce
and establish a sustainable rural finance scheme with the leading local bank
and thereby demonstrate that SMEs in the agricultural and rural sector can be
attractive customers. This has the potential to unlock resources for rural
credit, which is especially important given the low level of financial
intermediation in this market segment.
The rural sub-window comes under the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility, a joint
programme of the European Commission and the EBRD which supports the
development and growth of entrepreneurs by facilitating their access to
finance. The Bank is making available funding of €1.1 billion, of which €935
million has been committed to signed projects to date. The EC has been
contributing €156.75 million in grant 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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