|
FYR Macedonia's Vitaminka to grow with EBRD support
€4 million to develop new products and support regional expansion
The EBRD is lending Vitaminka, the largest branded food manufacturer in FYR
Macedonia, €4 million to develop new products and support its expansion in the
Western Balkans and other countries in the region.
Vitaminka will use the loan to purchase new production and packaging
equipment. The loan comes under the EBRD-Italy Western Balkans Local
Enterprise Facility, which provides individual investments in the range of
€1-4 million.
Claudio Viezzoli, EBRD Director for the Western Balkans, said helping good
private domestic companies to grow is a priority for the EBRD, and the loan to
Vitaminka is a good example of that support. As well as helping the company
grow locally, the Bank is keen to support Vitaminka’s regional development
plans, a process that is economically important and should demonstrate to
other local companies of the opportunities that exist in other markets, he
added.
Vitaminka has continuously invested in the modernisation of its production
facilities and has re-established its presence on the regional markets. In
2006 around 40 per cent of the company’s products were exported, to countries
including Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Serbia. Through this
latest investment into new products, Vitaminka should further boost its
presence in the region.
“The EBRD loan, which coincides with Vitaminka’s 50th anniversary, will help
the company improve the quality of its existing products and develop a wide
range of new goods which will be offered to other markets in the region. This
facility will also allow Vitaminka to expand by employing an additional 40-50
workers for the new production line,” said Simon Naumoski, Vitaminka’s general
manager.
The EBRD-Italy Western Balkans Local Enterprise Facility is an investment
facility established by the EBRD with financial contributions and support from
the Italian government. WB LEF is contributing to the economic recovery in the
Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, including Kosovo) through the provision of mainly equity and quasi
equity financing to small and medium local enterprises.
The EBRD is one of the largest investors in FYR Macedonia, having invested
€432 million in 27 projects. The Bank has mobilised another €456 million
through other – mainly private – sources.
In the agribusiness sector alone, the EBRD has committed €4.4 billion in 314
projects across central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States.
|
