October 22 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Thursday it will provide 190 million euro ($225 million) in loans to hundreds of companies in Romania most affected by the economic, social and health impact of COVID-19.
The loans will be granted through Romania's CEC Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania, Unicredit and BRD Sogelease, EIB said in a press release.
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The loans will enable working capital, leasing finance and capital investment by SMEs and mid-cap companies across the country. Romanian companies will be able to benefit from the new financing in both local currency and and euro. The programme is available immediately and companies can apply through branches of the partner banks across the country.
"Enabling companies across Romania to continue to invest is essential for Romania to overcome economic, employment and social challenges caused by COVID-19," Romanian finance minostrer and member of EIB's board of governors, Florin Citu, said.
"The new scheme is better and more flexible. It allows working capital expenses including among others payment of salaries, social security and tax, without a minimum maturity requirement to help mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19," Citu added.
Companies involved in manufacturing, commerce, agriculture, tourism and transport will be the top beneficiaries of the loans.
The initiative represents a dedicated COVID-19 economic resilience support package in Romania provided by the EIB, part of the bank’s 20 billion euro global response to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic.
"The EIB is committed to supporting private sector investment in Romania and around the world and working together with local partners to strengthen economic resilience to COVID-19. As new EIB Vice President responsible for operations in Romania I look forward to supporting transformational investment across the country in the years ahead and further strengthening the EIB’s close cooperation with Romanian partners," EIB vice president Christian Kettel Thomsen said.
($=0.8452 euro)