Investeringsbank ondersteunt infrastructurele ontwikkeling in Slovenië (en)

BEI/09/147

Ljubljana/Luxembourg, 22 July 2009

EIB supports with EUR 380 million projects promoted by SMEs and automotive suppliers, infrastructure investments by local authorities, and projects aiming at environmental protection and improvement in Slovenia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing four credit lines loans totalling EUR 380 million to the Slovene Export and Development Bank (SID).

Mrs. Marta Gajecka, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending in Central Europe, including Slovenia, commented: “EIB long-term finance is particularly aimed at small and medium-sized companies and automotive suppliers, which are increasingly suffering from the lack of liquidity due to the current crisis. This will contribute to the implementation of the anti-crisis measures by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia”.

The EIB intermediated loans cover:

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  The loan of EUR 150 million will co-finance small and medium size projects implemented by SMEs. This is a new generation of intermediated loans in line with the EIB’s priority of strengthening its support for Europe’s SMEs and helping to reduce the impact of the current credit crisis by improving the access of SMEs to medium and long-term funds on advantageous financial terms. As part of this, the Bank is also simplifying its procedures and broadening the scope of its financing. In addition, it is increasing transparency by working towards a more effective transfer of the advantage of EIB funds to final beneficiaries.
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  The EUR 80 million loan will support investments of automotive suppliers focused on the development of new generation vehicle technology and car emissions reduction. It will provide long term finance to RDI activities of Slovenian companies in accordance with the EIB’s transport policy. This is the first intermediated loan provided by the EIB to finance projects of automotive suppliers.
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  The credit line of EUR 100 million will co-finance infrastructure projects of Slovenian local authorities, further strengthening EIB support to municipal investments.
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  The EUR 50 million loan will support projects aiming at environment protection and improvement.

Note to editors:

The EIB, the European Union’s long-term financing institution, finances economically viable investment projects that contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States.

Thanks to its Statute and shareholders, the 27 Member States, including Slovenia, the EIB has an AAA-rating and therefore it can borrow funds on the capital markets on favorable terms, which it passes on via the loans that it grants to its clients and final beneficiaries. Since 1990, the EIB has signed loan contracts in Slovenia, including the current loans, amounting to some EUR 3.4 billion, out of which some EUR 865 million supported SME and local authorities’ projects.

Press contacts:

For further details, please contact Mr Dušan Ondrejicka ( d.ondrejicka@eib.org ,

tel.: +352-4379-83334) or visit the EIB’s website ( http://www.eib.org