EIF and the Romanian Ministry of European Funds launch EUR 59.3m Competitiveness Fund-of-Funds for SMEs

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Romanian Ministry of European Funds signed a Funding Agreement to establish the Competitiveness Fund-of-Funds, which will finance SMEs via several financial intermediaries with EUR 59 million with resources from the Competitiveness Operational Programme 2014-2020, co-financed through European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

EUR 40m of the Fund of Funds will be dedicated to entrepreneurship and seed funds for innovative companies and EUR 19m will be dedicated to a portfolio risk sharing loan instrument.

The signature is a natural continuation of the successful JEREMIE initiative, through which 3 instruments were created (portfolio risk sharing loan, portfolio guarantee, equity fund). The EUR 225m JEREMIE allocation has to-date catalysed over 6,000 new loans and investments in total value over EUR 600m.

The Romanian Minister of EU Funds, Cristian Ghinea, stated: “The utilisation of financial instruments is an important step towards the future. We have to think already of the next phase when EU funds will be spent mostly as financial instruments rather than grants.”

The European Investment Fund Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilibert, stated: “The successful implementation of the JEREMIE initiative encouraged the continuation of our partnership with the Government of Romania in support of small and medium sized enterprises. Based on past achievements, we can now enlarge the range of financial instruments, providing business ideas the needed support to grow and innovate.”

Notes to editors:

The European Investment Fund

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.

The Competitiveness Operational Programme

The Competitiveness Operational Programme for Romania addresses the challenges stemming from the low support for research, development and innovation and the under-developed information and communication technologies services and infrastructure. By investing in these areas, the OP aims to contribute to bolster the competitiveness of the Romanian economy. The OP benefits from a total allocation of EUR 1.58 billion, of which EUR 0.95 billion for RDI supporting economic competitiveness (including financial instruments) and EUR 0.63 billion for Information and communication technologies for a competitive digital economy.

Press contacts:

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