BELGRADE (Serbia), December 7 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said it has approved a five-year 30 million euro ($44 million) loan aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia.
Serbia’s Komercijalna Banka, in which the EBRD holds a stake, will receive the loan and use it for on-lending to SMEs. The credit will have a two-year grace period.
“The purpose of the loan is to support the real economy in times of crisis by providing long-term financing for SMEs that otherwise have difficulties in accessing financing,” the EBRD said in a statement on Friday.
In addition, the loan will improve the balance sheet maturity structure of Komercijalna Banka, it added.
The EBRD is the second largest shareholder in Komercijalna Banka with a 25% stake, while the Serbian government is the biggest one, with 42.6%. The remainder belongs to smaller shareholders.
The EBRD said in a separate statement it is considering an investment of 4.6 billion dinars ($71 million/48 million euro) jointly with other international lenders in an 11.4 billion dinars capital increase of Komercijalna Banka.
Komercijalna Banka is Serbia’s second largest bank by assets, which totalled 195 billion dinars at the end of September. It is also a blue-chip heavyweight on the Belgrade bourse.
The bank led advancers on Monday on the Belgrade bourse, soaring 4.73% to 31,500 dinars as only one share changed hands.
(1 euro=96.2 dinars)
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