the European Investment Bank (BEI) signed two loan agreements with UniCredit in Serbia and Bosnia and herzegovina with a total value of up to € 100 million to increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and accelerate their recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

According to the development bank, the investment “contributes to strengthening the private sector, supporting employment, liquidity and the expansion of business operations”.

It brings to € 475 million the total amount of credit lines provided by the EIB to help SMEs recover from COVID-19 as part of Team Europe’s financial support for the Western Balkans.

In Serbia, the EIB and UniCredit Bank Srbija AD (UCBS) have signed an agreement to provide up to € 50 million to SMEs and midcaps, helping them overcome financial constraints resulting from the pandemic, maintain liquidity and employment . UCBS will on-lend the funds to SMEs and midcaps, which will be able to use EIB funds to finance their liquidity, working capital and medium and long-term investment needs, the press release said.

The credit line is the fourth granted by the EIB to support Serbian companies as part of the Team Europe financial package for the recovery of COVID-19 in the Western Balkans.

“SMEs are the backbone of the economy and that is why we finance this area both in the form of grants but also through loans and credit guarantees. We are happy to work with the banking industry in this regard. All EU efforts to support innovative and technology-driven SMEs and other sectors in which these companies operate will ultimately serve to modernize Serbia and stimulate the economy, in particular to help businesses affected by the COVID crisis ”, said Mateja Norcjc Stamcar, charge d’affaires of the EU delegation to Serbia.

“We continue to be committed to providing continued support for the development of local businesses and economies through these initiatives to accelerate the recovery of COVID-19. This represents another concrete step to ensure continuity of cash flow, especially for SMEs, which represent one of the key pillars of the Western Balkan economies, enabling them to finance working capital and investment programs ” , commented Teodora Petkova, boss of Eastern Europe at UniCredit.

Meanwhile at Bosnia the EIB and UniCredit AD Banja Luka (UBBL) have signed an agreement to provide up to € 50 million to small and medium-sized SMEs and mid-market companies, bringing the total EIB funding for the COVID-19 recovery provided to SMEs in the country since the start of the pandemic to 95 million euros.

“The EIB continues to support the growth and development of Bosnia and herzegovina with this significant investment signed today ”, declared the EIB Vice-President Lilyana pavlova. “We are committed to creating the conditions for a faster recovery from COVID-19 and for the regional economy to transition to a more resilient, green and sustainable model capable of successfully competing in global markets. We are happy to have partners like UniCredit Bank Banja Luka who are able to extend our financial support directly to businesses of Bosnia herzegovina, thus saving jobs and income for thousands of people.

© 2021 bne IntelliNews, source Magazine