August 4 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) said on Friday that its leasing arm is offering two new EU-backed financing instruments geared towards supporting company projects for investing in machinery and equipment upgrades as well as in renewable energy and sustainable technologies.
Small and medium enterprises will be eligible for investment loans of up to 2 million euro ($2.2 million) with a term of up to eight years, with funding made available by the InvestEU programme, BDB said in a press release.
Project applications from micro, small and medium enterprises will be accepted until July 2025.
The first type of loans available from BDB Leasing will be for the purchase of transport vehicles and foresees no additional financial participation by companies.
The second type of loans, with 5% of the project cost to be funded by the applicant, will back the purchase of machinery, equipment as well as green energy investments.
The funds provided under the SME competitiveness line are intended to fund the acquisition of of new and used production machines and equipment, construction and agricultural machinery, trucks and other types of vehicles. Under the sustainability line, eligible projects are designed to support firms in increasing industrial energy efficiency, low-emission mobility, renewable energy generation, and to invest in the circular economy and the sustainable use of materials, BDB said.
Preferential leasing terms are also available to companies that meet the sustainability requirements of the European Investment Fund (EIF).
Last month, BDB signed a financial agreement worth 175 million euro with EIF, unlocking long-term loans for SMEs, which make up 98% of all businesses in Bulgaria. In addition, EIF is providing BDB and BDB Leasing 45.5 million euro in EIF guarantees, which will facilitate access to financing for higher-risk SMEs as well as for those that do not have sufficient collateral.
The agreement between the two financial institutions is expected to enable the provision of loans worth 77 million euro in total over a period of two years, available also to local companies in the innovation and digitalisation sectors, BDB has said.
($ = 0.9135 euro)