July 15 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Southeast Europe-focused banking group ProCredit are providing an additional 800 million euro ($902 million) to innovative small and medium-sized companies in 11 countries, the EIF said.
The EIF-backed financing targets companies using new technologies and making new products in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, the EIF said in a statement on Friday.
The agreements were signed under the European Commission’s InnovFin initiative, backed by the EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.
"The extension of our agreement is an important signal for our group. It shows our clients that investments by innovative SMEs in South Eastern and Eastern Europe will continue to be supported by the EU and it also demonstrates that the developmental contribution made by ProCredit banks in their countries is being recognised by the EU,” Claus-Peter Zeitinger, chairman of the supervisory board of ProCredit Holding, said in the statement.
To date, agreements between the EIF and ProCredit worth a total of 820 million euro have already supported around 2,000 innovative small and medium-sized enterprizes (SMEs), predominantly in the wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them access finance.
($ = 0.8870 euro)