May 10 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Fund (EIF) signed guarantee agreements with UniCredit, enabling the Italian banking group to on-lend 1 billion euro ($1.09 billion) to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), UniCredit's Bulgarian unit said on Wednesday.
Under the agreements, the EIF will provide two guarantees totalling 370 million euro in support of investments by SMEs in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, UniCredit Bulbank said in a press release.
You can download the 2023 Renewable energy in Southeast Europe report here
The guarantees are backed by InvestEU, the 372 billion euro funding programme in support of sustainable investment, innovation and job creation across EU27. The deal will allow UniCredit to grant loans to 2,500 SMEs and small mid-cap companies across Europe.
"The resources will primarily go towards investment contributing to the twin green and digital transition, but also to boost the cultural, educational and social sectors," the Bulgarian bank said. It added that loans will also be granted to housing associations and individuals for their own renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in residential buildings as well as to promote the development of sustainable mobility.
In Eastern Europe, the bank sees lending activity in its renewables portfolio to be even more dynamic in 2023, after it exceeded the 500 million euro target for the segment last year, Teodora Petkova, UniCredit head of Eastern Europe, told SeeNews in a recent interview.
($ = 0.9111 euro)
Join our free newsletter Energy in Southeast Europe to stay up to date with the latest in the sector.