The European Investment Bank Group
\nis tripling its support for Romanian companies from 500 million euros to 1.38
\nbillion euros. The bank’s vice-president Andrew McDowell said on Thursday that
\n5,000 Romanian SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) would benefit as a
\nresult. The Group has been working in Romania for 25 years, and during this
\ntime it has provided funding of around 15 billion euros for 300 different
\nprojects, McDowell also said. He explained that in the last five years, the
\nbank’s investments in Romania had gone up to reach an average funding level of
\n1 billion euros a year, with a third of this amount being for SMEs, while this
\nyear the amount of funding is likely to exceed 1 billion euros. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Initiative for
\nSMEs combines structural funds with other resources of the European Union and
\nthe European Investment Bank to provide loans for 5,000 SMEs and thus
\ncontribute to the creation of jobs that are much needed in the private sector.
\nThe bank’s vice-president also emphasised that the European Investment Bank
\nGroup provides not only funding but also consultancy for the preparation and
\nimplementation of complex projects. He recalled the support given in the
\nhealthcare sector, where the European Investment Bank has provided the
\nfeasibility studies for regional hospital projects in Iasi (in the north-east),
\nCraiova (in the south) and Cluj (in the north-west), and is now supporting the
\npreparation of the application for structural funds. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The vice-president of the European
\nInvestment Bank Andrew McDowell also participated in the signing of new
\ncontracts with financial intermediaries, namely banks from Romania, aimed at
\nincreasing the amount of funding. These new contracts will contribute,
\nalongside the existing ones, to supporting SMEs and start-ups that need financing.
\nAccording to the European Investment Bank, the agreements with these financial
\ninstitutions aim to facilitate Romanian companies’ access to funding through
\n60% guarantees for each loan and by decreasing the interest rates charged by
\nbanks. Following the successful implementation of the Initiative for SMEs in
\nRomania, the Romanian authorities have allocated an additional 150 million
\neuros from the Regional Operational Programme to reach an available budget of 250
\nmillion euros. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian finance minister Eugen Teodorovici said more than
\n2,000 Romanian SMEs have benefited from this Initiative, with 500 million euros
\nhaving already been allocated. The ambition of the Bucharest authorities is for
\nSMEs to become the backbone of the economy. He also said he wished Romania
\nfollowed Germany’s example, where SMEs make up 68% of the country’s exports. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Investment Bank will continue to provide massive support for the Romanian economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":83166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[33721],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-83165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-investment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n