June 29 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday it is considering providing a senior unsecured loan of up to 8 million euro ($8.4 million) to the Bosnian unit of Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo to back investments to introduce EU standards at local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The loan, which is pending a final review, will target SMEs that invest in automation and digitalisation, the EBRD said in a project summary document.
At least 60% of the loans would go to investments that support the green economy transition, the EBRD added.
The funding would be provided under the Go Digital Pilot in BiH programme.
The loan a maturity of five years, including a two-year grace period, and would be fully guaranteed by the bank's owner, Intesa Sanpaolo.
Sarajevo-based Intesa Sanpaolo BiH is the third largest lender in Bosnia, with assets totalling 1.277 billion euro at the end of 2021 that gave it a market share of 9.6%, the EBRD noted.
($ = 0.9530 euro)
Intesa Sanpaolo Banka d.d. is among the biggest banks in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
here or subscribe to our free Top 100 newsletter
here