The European Bank for Reconstruction and development (EBRD) has signed investments worth EUR 200 million for Piraeus Group's subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Albania as part of a package approved in July 2010. The aim of the financing is to provide medium and long-term debt financing through Piraeus Group subsidiaries in support of SMEs and corporate organizations for investment and working capital needs.

The EBRD investments are part of the joint pledge by the EBRD, the World Bank Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide over EUR 24.5 billion in support of the banking sectors in the region and to fund lending to businesses hit by the global crisis.

The credit lines will contribute to the transition process by maintaining an essential flow of lending to enterprises at a time when the availability of credit, particularly to SMEs, has been constrained.

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