The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed new Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) agreements with four banks in Romania, namely Banca Transilvania, BRD - Groupe Societe Generale, ProCredit Bank and Raiffeisen Bank.

Via the new agreements, signed under the new Portfolio Risk Sharing Loan instrument, the SMEs will have access to loans for investments and working capital totalling EUR 120 million, with significantly lower interest rates and reduced collateral requirements.

“The portfolio risk sharing and interest subsidy JEREMIE instrument is new in Romania, but has already been successfully implemented by EIF in several countries. The instrument complements the existing JEREMIE guarantee and risk capital facilities by providing new financing options for a wider range of SMEs in various sectors and stages of development,” said Hubert Cottogni, EIF Deputy Director and head of Regional Business Development.

Under the JEREMIE initiative, two other SME financial instruments have been created and are already active in Romania: a guarantee facility implemented by BCR, Raiffeisen Bank and UniCredit Tiriac Bank, which has enabled over 2,000 new loans worth over EUR 180 million, and the risk capital fund 3TS Catalyst Romania, which has made its first investments in technology companies.

The four new options have been made possible through the increase of the JEREMIE resources by the Romanian Government in November last year. This happened through a further allocation within the Sectoral Operational Programme “Increase of Economic Competitiveness” 2007-2013, co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The SMEs loans under this instrument will be provided by the banks in compliance with the relevant de minimis aid scheme.

JEREMIE is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission 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.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com