The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended finance to SMEs in Serbia through local banking and leasing subsidiaries of Intesa Sanpaolo and Societe Generale.
The EIB provided four loans for a total of €110m (£98m). They form the first tranche of a pre-approved €190m credit line to SMEs in the country.
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Intesa Sanpaolo subsidiaries, Banca Intesa Beograd and Intesa Leasing Beograd, will receive €30m and €20m from the initial tranche respectively. The credit line through Banca Intesa will total €80m.
Societe Generale, meanwhile, will manage €20m through its Serbian subsidiary and €40m through Sogelease Serbia, which it fully owns. Including future loans, Societe Generale will handle €110m.
The credit line is part of the EU pre-accession facility, to assist Serbia in future integration with the Union.
Dario Scannapieco, EIB vice-president for western Balkans, said: “The operations signed with the two local banks will improve the access of Serbian SMEs and midcap companies [with capitals in the single-digit billions] to long-term financing provided on favourable terms, with positive effects on the job market and the social environment, including youth employment, which is at the core of the Bank’s Economic Resilience Initiative for the western Balkans and southern neighbourhood.
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By GlobalData“I am really pleased with our cooperation with the Serbian authorities and Serbian financial institutions: these loans represent a continuation of the very successful relationship between the EIB and both Intesa Sanpaolo Group and Societe Generale subsidiaries.”
Picture © European Investment Bank 2017
