EIB blijft mkb-projecten en midcap in Rusland steunen (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Investeringsbank (EIB) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 21 november 2013.

PRESS RELEASE

BEI/13/190

Luxembourg/ Moscow , 21 November 2013

EIB continues to support projects of SMEs and mid-caps in Russia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing two loans to Russian subsidiary banks of leading EU banking groups to support projects promoted by small and medium-sized enterprises and mid - cap companies in the Russian Federation:

  • EUR 100 million with UniCredit Bank and
  • EUR 40 million with Raiffeisen Bank

Both credit lines , extended in the framework of the EU-Russia Partnership for Moderni s ation, are first-time EIB operations with the two financing institutions in the Russia n Federation , and the first EIB loans t o subsidiaries of EU banks in the country.

Mr Wilhelm Molterer, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending operations in Russia, commented: “I welcome the fact that EIB funds will contribute to the development of the Russian private sector by improving the access of SMEs and m id - c aps to long-term finance. ”

The EIB loans will finance projects contributing to the diversi fication of the Russian economy. Both credit lines are in line with the EIB’s priority of supporting growth and jobs by lending to SMEs. To this end, t he EIB is joining forces with two major financing institutions that have a well-established presence in the local market and serve SMEs and mid-cap companies.

The Partnership for Modernisation , launched at the 25th EU-Russia Summit in 2010, serves as a flexible framework for encouraging reform, boosting growth and fostering competitiveness. All of these objectives are supported by promoting small and medium-sized enterprises and developing the exchange of experience between the EIB and Russian financial institutions on the subject of financial services for SMEs and mid-caps. To date, the EIB has extended seven loans to support the Partnership for Modernisation , for a total amount of EUR 1 billion .

Background

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

The EIB finances projects in the Russia n Federation on the basis of an EU Council and European Parliament lending mandate for the Eastern Neighbourhood countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine) of EUR 3.8 billion for the period 2007-2013 to contribute to local private sector development, the improvement of social and economic infrastructure, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Press contacts:

Dušan Ondrejička, d.ondrejicka@eib.org , tel.: +352-4379-83334

Website: www.eib.org/press - Press Office: +352 4379 21000 - press@eib.org