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By providing a €60 million financing facility the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting two under-served business categories in Turkey – agribusiness and enterprises led by women.
The EBRD financing will be distributed to clients of SekerBank, a dynamic Turkish bank looking to develop its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) portfolio.
The EBRD credit will be provided in tranches, the first of which will be a loan of US$ 40 million (€31 million) for investment in subordinated debt. Two other IFIs are providing loans alongside the EBRD. US$ 50 million will be provided by the International Financing Corporation (IFC), and €10 million will come from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE). Details of the remainder of the EBRD financing will be decided at a later stage.
“This financing package to SekerBank will support entrepreneurial talent in areas where credit is constrained. We have already provided credit lines for these types of businesses to several other Turkish banks. Since the inception of the Women in Business programme last year, the EBRD has provided over €110 million of financing earmarked for women-led businesses, and is very happy to see the demand growing. SekerBank will bring our financing to enterprises in the less developed regions of Turkey,” said EBRD Director for Financial Institutions for Turkey, Francis Malige.
Meriç Uluşahin, Şekerbank’s General Manager, said: “Our bank's relations with the international institutions are continuing more strongly now. The subordinated loan we have taken has confirmed the trust and support of these institutions into our bank's community banking strategy, knowhow in local banking. We will continue to lead the financing of sustainable development in Turkey by deepening our relations with the international institutions in line with our Community Banking mission”.
SekerBank will benefit from technical assistance for the development of new financial products, supported by donor funds from the United States, the European Union and the EBRD’s own funds.
Since the beginning of its operations in Turkey, the EBRD has invested over €3 billion in almost 100 projects. About €500 million was dedicated to SMEs, including €210 for agribusiness.