The EIF and UniCredit Tiriac Bank S.A. have signed a guarantee agreement under the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) initiative, allowing the bank to provide up to EUR 87.5 million of new loans to Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the guarantee agreement, the third of its kind in Romania, UniCredit Tiriac Bank will be able to offer new investment and expansion loans to local SMEs, at better terms and applying lower collateral requirements, thanks to the JEREMIE guarantee. The bank will be providing such loans over a period of two years starting in spring 2012; the loans will have maturities of up to 6 years.

The third JEREMIE guarantee agreement in Romania results from a Call for expression of interest launched in 2010, which attracted a high level of interest from banks operating in Romania. The Call was part of the implementation in Romania of the JEREMIE initiative, financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Sectoral Operational Programme “Increase of Economic Competitiveness” 2007 - 2013.

Commenting on the new operation, the EIF Chief Executive Mr. Richard Pelly said ”We are pleased to be signing our third guarantee agreement in Romania under the JEREMIE initiative. This new guarantee transaction should help to satisfy the strong demand for loans from local SMEs, who under the current economic circumstances find it very difficult to obtain bank financing. ”

UniCredit Tiriac Bank’s Chief Executive Officer/Executive President Rasvan Radu said:

“In the current economic environment, supporting the development of the SME segment is a priority for both European Union and Romania. For UniCredit Tiriac Bank, SMEs remain an important area of clients, for whom we permanently develop new lending products and guarantees. Starting with spring 2012, UniCredit Tiriac Bank will offer investment loans for SMEs that are up to 80% guaranteed with the support of the EIF instrument from EU funds. The main advantage of this instrument is that it does not imply guarantee fees and facilitates the access to lending for the SMEs that want to invest and do not have enough guarantees. We are confident about the succesful development of this partnership, considering also the fact that UniCredit Tiriac Bank benefits from the experience of UniCredit in managing the JEREMIE Initiative in Bulgaria and other EU member states where the Group has an active presence on the market.”

About JEREMIE

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission (DG Regional Policy) and the European Investment Bank group to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the Structural Funds framework for the period 2007 - 2013.

JEREMIE enables the EU Member States and Regions to put money from the structural funds and also national resources into holding funds that can finance SMEs in a flexible and innovative way. The new initiative aims at developing and fostering the role of entrepreneurship within the EU in order to meet the objectives of the Lisbon agenda and help structural funds to deliver greater benefits to the market. At the level of the European Union, the EIF has currently signed 8 national and 5 regional Holding Fund agreements.

In Romania, the JEREMIE Holding Fund is financed from the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Sectoral Operational Programme Increase of Economic Competitiveness, Priority Axis 1 “An innovative and eco-efficient productive system” – Key Area of Intervention 1.2. “Access to finance for SMEs”.

About EIF

EIF's central mission is to support European SMEs by helping them to access finance. EIF primarily designs and develops venture capital and guarantees 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 EIF total net commitments to venture capital and private equity funds amounted to over EUR 5.4bn at end 2010. With investments in over 300 funds, the EIF is the leading player in European venture capital due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in the high-tech and early-stage segments.

The EIF commitment in guarantees totalled over EUR 14.7bn in close to 160 operations at end 2010, positioning it as a major European SME loan guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

About Unicredit Tiriac Bank

UniCredit Tiriac Bank is a part of the Group UniCredit, the leading European Bank with the largest network in the CEE, of over 3,900 branches. In Romania, UniCredit Tiriac Bank is one of the main financial institutions, offering high quality services and products for all types of clients, through a network of over 240 branches.

The bank aims to always place the clients in the center of its activities and to be a partner that is easy to deal with. UniCredit Tiriac people are dedicated to the development of the communities in which they live. UniCredit is also present in Romania through: UniCredit Leasing Corporation, UniCredit CA-IB Securities Romania, UniCredit CAIB Romania, UniCredit Insurance Broker, Pioneer Asset Management, UniCredit Consumer Financing (UCFin) si UniCredit Business Partner. For more information, please visit www.unicredit-tiriac.ro.

Press contacts:

EIF: David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org,

UniCredit Tiriac Bank: elena.constantinescu@unicredit.ro or catalina.roman@unicredit.ro