Romanian SMEs gain access to EUR 478 mln concessionary financing under RRF-funded scheme

SMEs will have access to EUR 478 million of concessionary financing for sustainability and competitiveness projects from seven local banks under a scheme that channels part of Romania's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) money under a rather complex mechanism (InvestEU Member State Compartment) to be used as guarantees for such projects, announced the European Investment Fund (EIF).

The mechanism is handled by the EIF. Guarantees will be extended for EUR 309 million worth of loans aimed at competitiveness and EUR 168.75 million for sustainability and will allow banks to offer better terms to Romanian SMEs, including lower interest rates.

The Romanian banks participating in this scheme are UniCredit Bank, Alpha Bank, Libra Internet Bank, BRD Groupe Société Générale, Patria Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and Garanti BBVA.

The EUR 477.75 million of guarantees come on top of similar guarantees in 2023, totaling EUR 1 billion for five banks in Romania.

The InvestEU programme is a facility that allows Member States to make voluntary contributions to the InvestEU Fund to finance additional InvestEU financial operations there, according to Insight EU Monitoring.

As part of this agreement, Romania is channeling part of its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds to the “Member State compartment” of the InvestEU Fund and the InvestEU Advisory Hub.

The European Investment Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development act as implementing partners (intermediaries) and deploy a range of InvestEU financial products to support Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan objectives.

(Photo source: Elizaveta Elesina/Dreamstime.com)