Slovenia: 350 million for SME and mid-cap projects

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is granting two loans to the Slovene Export and Development Bank (SID banka):

• EUR 300 million to support smaller projects promoted usually by SMEs and mid-cap companies
• EUR 50 million to co-finance investments in the sectors of energy efficiency and renewable energy implemented by public and private companies and natural persons
  

EIB Vice-President László Baranyay commented: “Support for the financing of projects implemented by SMEs and mid-cap companies is the key policy objective of the EIB in Slovenia, as the SME and mid-cap sector represents the engine of growth and innovation. In its cooperation with SID banka – the key partner of the EIB and a crucial player in the Slovenian economy – the EIB ensures that the benefits of it providing loans on favourable terms reach eligible promoters”.

SID banka’s President and CEO Sibil Svilan commented: “The majority of the Loan for SMEs will be used to fund the special SID Banka – Slovenian Government’s Programme for SMEs worth EUR 500 million, which operates as a financial engineering instrument by blending public and private funds aimed at providing the Slovenian economy with much needed favourable financing. And with the energy efficiency and renewable energies loan we will complement and upgrade existing measures in order to boost the investments in this field.”

These operations represent a continuation of the fruitful cooperation between the EIB and SID banka. Thanks to the loans signed today, which bring EIB lending to SID banka to some EUR 1 billion, SID banka once again becomes the EIB’s partner in supporting the projects of SMEs and investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, after having successfully intermediated the EIB funding for projects in the automotive, knowledge economy, infrastructure and environment sectors.

The intermediated loans signed today are being extended under the Joint IFI Action Plan for Growth in Central and South Eastern Europe, which is focused on providing better access to long-term finance for Europe's SMEs in order to mitigate the effects of the financial crisis. Those funds will support growth by enhancing long-term competitiveness through increased availability of long-term credit.