May 4 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Erste Bank Montenegro have signed a 30 million euro ($32.8 million) loan agreement to support companies in the Southeast European country through working capital lines and investment loans, EIB said.
The financing represents the first tranche of a loan worth 50 million euro Erste applied for at the EIB and funds will be available to businesses operating across sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, and services, among the hardest hit by the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), EIB said in an e-mailed statement on Friday.
The EIB credit line will also be open to Montenegrin public entities, including municipalities, for investments in energy and health infrastructure projects, the bank said.
"As a member of the Team Europe, the EIB unlocked a 30 million euro immediate support package for the Montenegrin economy at time when such a support is key for tackling challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. As one of the major foreign investors in Montenegro, we are glad our partnership with Erste Bank Montenegro is fostering local businesses by helping them to preserve jobs and meet their immediate liquidity needs," Matteo Rivellini, head of EIB lending operations in Croatia, Slovenia and Western Balkans said.
Montenegrin companies creating youth employment opportunities under the European Youth Employment and Training for the Western Balkans (EYET) initiative will also be eligible to benefit from the loan. In the medium-term, the loan supports the Montenegro’s Economic Reform Programme (ERP) and the country’s accession in the European Union (EU), EIB noted.
"Through this credit line we are able to offer additional funds under more favourable terms to our SME and MidCap clients and support them overcome the crisis as easy as possible, meeting their acute and their development needs. Additionaly, with this credit line we underscore our commitment to support public sector address public needs, providing financing for investment in energy and health infrastructure projects," the CEO of Erste Bank Montenegro, Aleksa Lukic, said.
($ = 0.914441 euro)