How EFSI benefits SMEs in Europe - BGK case study: Remi TSL (Poland), Transportation

Over 25 years ago, when Rafał Macoch was still sitting on the school benches, he was convinced that his future lay in setting up his own business. A few years later, Rafał started a company specialised in international transport services, named Remi TSL.

Remi TSL is a transport company based in Stargard, a city located in the north-western part of Poland that provides business-to-business transportation services both within Poland but also across the EU. With a fleet of over 50 trucks and with 30 employees, Remi TSL has established itself as an important actor in the transport sector in Poland.

In the course of his business’ expansion, Rafał decided to obtain additional financing in order to hire new staff and support the company’s broadening scope of activity. He secured a loan guaranteed by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) and backed by EIF and the Investment Plan for Europe: “Thanks to this support, I did not have to provide any hard collateral and did not have to pay additional costs when undertaking the loan.” Rafał describes his experience in getting the loan as very positive: “It was a two-week process. All the formalities were simple and fast. Obtaining the loan really helped our development. Without it, we would have only been able to obtain a smaller amount or we would have had to find another guarantee which is difficult.”

The Investment Plan for Europe, the EU initiative aiming at generating new investments by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe, thus directly allowed Rafał to open new positions within his company: “Thanks to the loan, I was able to stabilise the business’ finances and to increase the amount of people that I employ by 50%, from 20 to currently 30 staff members. I really encourage all the small business in search of funding to seek this type of financing.”

In the future, Rafał intends to keep his business expanding as much as possible by providing new services and securing new business partners.

Company: Remi TSL (Poland)

Type of business: Transportation

EIF financing: COSME LGF, EFSI

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Poland, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/pl