The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Raiffeisen Bank, have signed a COSME agreement that will allow the Bank to provide RON 800,000,000 (ca. EUR 177m) in loans to small and medium-sized Romanian businesses.

This agreement will allow Raiffeisen Bank, to provide SMEs with loans benefiting from reduced collateral requirements, extended maturities and to support start-ups which have a limited access to lending. Around 2,000 Romanian SMEs are expected to benefit from these loans.

This agreement was made possible by the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The EFSI is the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called "Juncker Plan".

Corina Creţu, Commissioner for Regional Policy, said: "The Juncker Plan is working to support jobs and spur growth across Europe. Facilitating access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses is an important component of the Plan. I am delighted that, with this agreement, more Romanian businesses will be able to invest in expansion, job-creation and innovation thanks to the Juncker Plan.”

EIF Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilibert said: "Support for businesses and the creation of jobs, is fundamental for growth in Europe. EIF is committed to supporting SMEs and is pleased to be signing, this EFSI SME agreement with Raiffeisen Bank in Romania. Raiffeisen Bank is expected to reach out and enhance access to finance for 2,000 companies across the country.”

Steven van Groningen, President of Raiffeisen Bank, said: "This new partnership with EIF will facilitate access to finance of SMEs, under favourable terms - reduced collateral requirements and without any cost attached to the EIF guarantee, while further enhancing the fruitful long-standing cooperation between Raiffeisen Bank and the European Investment Fund. The loans will cover both investment and working capital needs, in order for the SMEs to meet their operational needs, strengthen their competiveness and achieve their strategic objectives.”

The Investment Plan is already expected to mobilise around EUR 743 million in investments in Romania and EUR 178 billion across Europe as a whole.

About EIF

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) 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. More information on EIF's work under the EFSI is available here.

About Raiffeisen Bank

Raiffeisen Bank Romania is a top universal bank that provides a large range of high quality products and services to individuals, SMEs and corporations. In total, around 5,000 employees service 2 million customers through 478 business outlets. Vienna-based Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the group that owns 99.49 per cent of Raiffeisen Bank’s shares, is a leading banking network from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

About COSME

COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020 with a total budget of EUR 2.3 billion. At least 60% of the programme will be devoted to easing access to finance for SMEs in Europe, with two financial instruments. The COSME Loan Guarantee Facility supports guarantees and counter-guarantees to financial institutions to help them provide more loans and lease finance to SMEs. This facility also includes securitisation of SME debt finance portfolios. The COSME programme also invests through the COSME Equity Facility for Growth in equity funds that provide risk capital to SMEs mainly in the expansion and growth stages. The COSME programme builds on the success of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) (2007-2013) which helped to mobilise more than EUR 21 billion of loans and EUR 3 billion of venture capital to almost 400,000 SMEs in Europe.

Businesses can contact selected financial institutions in their country to access EU financing: http://www.access2finance.eu/

About the Investment Plan for Europe

The Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called Juncker Plan, is one of the European Commission's top priorities. It focuses on boosting investments to create jobs and growth by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the central pillar of the Juncker Plan. It provides a first loss guarantee, allowing the EIB to invest in more, often riskier, projects. The EFSI is already showing concrete results. The projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI so far are expected to mobilise more than EUR 183 billion in investments and support over 425,000 SMEs across all 28 Member States.

Press contacts:

EIF:
David Yormesor
Tel.: +352 42 66 88 346
E-mail: d.yormesor@eif.org

Raiffeisen Bank:
E-mail: comunicare.externa@raiffeisen.ro

European Commission (Brussels):
Enda McNamara
Tel.: + 32 22964976
E-mail: enda.mcnamara@ec.europa.eu

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