2012-02-06 00:00:00
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The EBRD is continuing to support the availability of financing to the real economy sector with a €11.4 million syndicated loan to ProCredit Bank Romania. ProCredit Bank Romania was established in 2002 as the first bank in the country specifically addressing the financial needs of very small, small and medium-sized enterprises. It provides universal banking services to small companies, including enterprises in the agricultural sector. Structured under the EBRD’s A/B loan scheme, the facility includes a €8.4 million “A” loan, of which €5 million for the EBRD’s account and the additional €3.4 million was provided by the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) Taiwan. The €3 million “B” loan portion of the loan was syndicated to responsAbility SICAV (Lux) Financial Inclusion Fund and responsAbility SICAV (Lux) Mikrofinanz-Fonds. Through its network of 28 regional branches, ProCredit Bank will use the loan for on-lending to local entrepreneurs across the country working in the production, services, trade or agriculture sectors. The project will support the development of ProCredit Bank’s loan portfolio, helping the institution to overcome the impact of the current economic challenges. “The project will increase availability of medium-term funding for Romanian small and medium enterprises and will support ProCredit Bank in maintaining the flow of credit to local companies. This is the second syndication in Romania’s financial sector since the crisis, and the first to a bank dedicated to small business financing. The transaction is reviving access to international debt capital markets by encouraging private lenders to provide funding to banks based in Romania,” said Claudia Pendred, EBRD Director for Romania. “We are confident that the new loans will positively impact our activity on the Romanian market, and will bring additional financial support to the very small, small and medium-sized enterprises we are serving. ProCredit Bank Romania is able to identify market opportunities and potential for businesses in some economic sectors, such as production and agriculture; and as such, we will make it a priority to strengthen our lending capacity and continue our development mission in the country,” said Andreea Enache, Business Clients Division Director, ProCredit Bank Romania. In September 2010 the EBRD arranged the first syndicated loan in the Romanian financial sector since the beginning of the global economic crisis. Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed over €5.4 billion to various sectors of the country’s economy. |