EIB's European Investment Fund wants EUR 400 mln from Romania's Resilience Fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF), a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Europe, promises to invest EUR 600-700 mln in Romanian companies by 2026 if it receives EUR 400 mln under the country's Recovery and Resilience Facility, says Pablo Millan, head of the EIF equity division.

"We discussed with the Romanian Government to use part of the funds allocated through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)," he announced, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

It is not specified whether the EIF seeks grants or loans, but the latter is more likely. EIF is a division of the European Investment Bank (EIB). It invests through partners, private equity funds. In total, it works as of now with eight private equity funds active in Romania. Two of them are inactive. The others are Sarmis Capital, Catalyst 2, Gap Minder, Early Game Ventures, Black Sea Fund and Morphosis Capital.

"We multiply money from public sources, bringing in private investors, we cover funding gaps, we try to allocate money where more resources are needed, we create a sustainable industry that remains long-term. That's what FEI does," Millan argues.

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