EIF guarantees Merita Bank for environmental SME loans

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a guarantee agreement with Merita Bank plc, part of the MeritaNordbanken Group, under the Growth and Environment Scheme in Finland. Under this agreement the bank and the EIF will share the risk of environmental loans extended by the bank to small and medium-sized companies at preferential financial conditions for a total volume of ¬ 20 million. A similar agreement was signed with Nordbanken in Sweden at the same time.

The MeritaNordbanken Group has a strong market presence in the SME market in Scandinavia. It has demonstrated an innovative approach to its business and is seen as an ideal promoter of the Growth and Environment Scheme.

Growth and Environment

Under the Growth and Environment Scheme smaller companies with up to 100 employees receive loans at beneficial conditions for environmentally-friendly investments, i.e. investments that produce significant environmental benefits (even if the environment is not the main aim) or that are carried out by companies active in the eco-industry.

Financial institutions participating in the Scheme are able to offer better financing terms due to a free-of-charge guarantee from the European Investment Fund, through sponsorship of the European Union.

Under this Scheme, the EIF has so far entered into guarantee agreements with 31 financial institutions in all 15 Member States of the European Union, corresponding to a total loan volume of approximately ¬ 1.4 billion.

Interested companies should approach the participating banks directly.

The EIF is a financial institution based in Luxembourg, established in 1994 as a joint venture between the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and European banks and financial institutions. The EIB has recently become the majority shareholder and has confirmed the role of the EIF as the venture capital and SME guarantees arm of the EIB group.