Greece’s second-largest bank, EFG
Eurobank, has made a play for extra business in its Balkan coast
markets and has, just this month, secured a €50 million European
Investment Bank (EIB) loan to finance SMEs in Serbia.
At the same time, EFG announced it was
negotiating a further €450 million to distribute through other
European states, with Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland and Ukraine
named.
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“Currently, we are in various stages of
negotiations for facilities worth €450 million in other New Europe
countries in which we are operating,” EFG’s Serbian CEO, Philippos
Karamanolis, commented.
“We can disclose Romania, where discussions
are at an advanced stage (for) €140 million,” he said.
Karamanolis went on to comment that, in
Serbia, external funding for private sector business was essential
for economic growth to return.
The Serbian economy is expected to shrink by 6
percent this year, with the governor of the country’s central bank
recently predicting recovery to be more “L-shaped, than
V-shaped”.
The EIB previously provided a €40 million
facility for UniCredit’s Serbian leasing arm and another €40
million line for Raiffeisen in Belgrade.
SocGen leasing arm Sogelease has also applied
for a €20 million facility.
EFG Eurobank has a rapidly growing leasing
presence in Serbia, increasing its portfolio 90 percent over the
course of 2009 to reach €38 million.
With the new funding line deployed through
asset finance, EFG – Serbia’s ninth-largest lessor – looks set to
race up the country’s ranks with fellow EIB borrower UniCredit,
which currently ranks seventh with a portfolio of €44 million.
The country’s chief lessor by a significant
lead is Hypo Alpe-Adria-Leasing, which managed more than €335
million worth of business at the end of 2008.
