EIF and ProCredit Bank sign guarantee agreements to support Romanian SMEs

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and ProCredit Bank have signed two CIP loan guarantee agreements to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania.

Following this guarantee transaction under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), SMEs in Romania can now have easier access to finance. This transaction will allow ProCredit Bank will help to generate a new portfolio of loans worth up to EUR 50m over the next two years

For further details on the transaction please see the full press release.

About the EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. EIF’s total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 6.9bn at end 2012. With investments in over 435 funds, EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. EIF’s guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR 4.7bn in close to 255 operations at end 2012, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

Press contact:

• EIF: David Yormesor, tel : +352 42 66 88 346 , e-mail : d.yormesor@eif.org