July 17 (SeeNews) - Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria said on Friday that it signed an 18 million euro ($25.5 million) guarantee deal with the European Investment Fund (EIF) for loans to local innovative companies hit by the coronavirus crisis.
The agreement, signed under the EU's InnovFin programme, is focused on providing support to innovative and fast-growing companies with a headcount of up to 3,000 which are experiencing issues due to the crisis or making changes to their processes, producst and services in order to overcome the consequences of the pandemic, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria said in a statement.
Companies can receive loans of up to 7.5 million euro with a term of five years for working capital loans and six years for overdraft and revolving loans. The EIF covers 80% of the loan guarantee.
In 2018, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria and the EIF signed a guarantee deal under the InnovFin inititative, for 43 million euro support to local innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
InnovFin is a joint initiative launched by the European Investment Bank (EIB), EIF and the European Commission, aimed at providing finance for research and innovation to entities that may otherwise struggle to access financing.
($ = 0.8757 euro)