August 30 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday it has agreed to provide a 5 million euro ($5.4 million) loan to Bosnia and Herzegovina's Addiko Bank Banja Luka [BANJ:KRLB-R-A], a Bosnian unit of Austria's Addiko Bank AG, to back local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The funds will be used for on-lending to SMEs, focusing specifically on underserved enterprises in regions outside of Banja Luka, the EBRD said in a press release.
In addition, the EBRD and Addiko Bank will rollout a Business Academy for SME beneficiaries across Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing know-how across areas like succession management, financial reporting, digital transformation, and ESG considerations.
Addiko Bank Banja Luka has 28 branches in the Serb Republic, one of the two entities forming Bosnia. Addiko Bank also has a unit in the other entity, the Federation.
($ = 0.920178 euro)