EIB extends 100 mln euro loans for infrastructure, SME projects in Serbia

The deal with Raiffeisen Banka, signed today during the visit of EIB vice-president Dario Scannapieco, amounts to 50 million euro and is intended for SME's operations and for small and medium-sized infrastructure projects, EIB said in the statement. A minimum 70% of the loan will be allocated to SMEs and mid-cap projects.

The contract agreed with Erste Bank earlier in November is also worth 50 million euro and has similar terms with the exception that the credit line may also be used for funding local government projects.

Earlier today at a meeting with Serbia's prime minister Ivica Dacic the EIB expressed interest in supporting projects in infrastructure, agriculture and energy, the government said on its website.

The EIB has extended 1.6 billion euro for projects in Serbia since 2010. The bank chiefly grant loans for SME programmes, but also finances infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges and energy efficiency schemes, according to information on its website (www.eib.org).

($=0.7756 euro)