Lender Intesa Sanpaolo Romania announced a EUR 20 million deal with the European Investment Bank (EIB) today (October 15 ). The agreement will allow Intesa Sanpaolo to lend money to SMEs and public projects, with EUR 15 million going to Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and EUR 5 million destined for Intesa Sanpaolo Leasing Romania. It follows a very similar agreement between EIB and Raiffeisen Romania.

“The loans signed today will improve access to favorable medium and long term financing conditions. This will help to increase the productivity and competitive capacity of SMEs and mid cap companies and will facilitate the implementation of priority infrastructure projects,” EIB Vice-President Mihai Tănăsescu.

Intesa Sanpaolo indicated that co-financing projects in industry, services and infrastructure could be supported by the EIB loan, mentioning tourism, environmental protection, health, education and energy by name. Under the agreement, at least 70 percent of the credit will be allocated to projects initiated by SMEs and mid cap companies. Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Ezio Salvai said the bank is particularly interested in SMEs in Romania, with 60 percent of its local portfolio made up of SME clients.

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group is present in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, with over 1,500 units subsidiaries operating in 12 countries in the region. In Romania, the bank has 90 branches and assets of over EUR 1 billion at current exchange rates.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com