The money should largely be used to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ access to local bank loans, said Mihai Tanasescu, EIB vice-president responsible for energy and the southern EU countries.
“We had about EUR500 million last year, and expect somewhere in the neighborhood of EUR700 million to EUR800 million this year. We want to reach EUR1 billion to EUR1.5 billion on top of the EUR10 billion in the next few years,” Mihai Tanasescu said.
“Banks complain there’s no demand from Romanian entrepreneurs, who in turn say there’s no flexibility and willingness to take risks from banks. They are pointing the finger at each other and someone has to step in. This is not happening only in Romania but in all European countries. Which is why EIB will be very active over the coming period in Romania, as well.”
The Central and Eastern Europe has been faced with a brutal deleveraging on the part of Western banks over the last few years.
Local subsidiaries are pressured into replacing funds from their parent banks with cash attracted on their own, and here is where international financial institutions such as EIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) play an essential part.
EIB stepped up granting lines of credit to banks in Romania last year, with BCR, BRD, Raiffeisen, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, ING and CEC getting funding of up to EUR450 million approved so far. Another EUR30 million is being discussed for Millennium.
EIB’s total exposure to Romania stands at EUR10 billion, chiefly to the energy, transport, infrastructure and SME sectors, Tanasescu said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)