Raiffeisen Leasing Borrows EUR30M From EBRD To Support SMEs

05.13.2011 By Florentina Dragu

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Friday said it has provided a EUR30 million loan to Raiffeisen Leasing Romania, a subsidiary of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International AG, for onlending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

"The proceeds of the loan will be used to provide leases to private local companies to finance capital investments for the expansion of their businesses. Such capital investments include the acquisition of equipment, light commercial vehicles, trucks and trailers, as well as cars for commercial use," the EBRD said in a statement.

The credit line will support the revival of the leasing operations in Romania, also extending access to funding for local SME businesses that remain vulnerable to the persisting liquidity constraints, the lender added.

Raiffeisen Leasing is one of the leading players on the Romanian leasing market, with SME financing accounting for more than 40% of the company's portfolio.

The new loan is the EBRD's third financing deal with Raiffeisen Leasing in Romania, bringing the total loan amount extended to the company to EUR50 million.

Since the beginning of its operations in Romania in 1992, the EBRD has committed over EUR5 billion to various sectors of the country's economy which attracted an additional EUR9 billion of investments.