Banca Intesa and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a contract for the first tranche of a €30 million credit line, which will be distributed by Banca Intesa to SMEs in the form of long-term loans under more favourable conditions than those available on the market.
This is the first tranche of a credit line totalling €60 million approved by the EIB to Banca Intesa to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Small and medium enterprises are one of the key levers of long-term sustainable growth of the national economy”, says Draginja Đurić, President of the Executive Board of Banca Intesa, “which is why stimulating their development is a very important part of the overall support provided by Banca Intesa to the real sector. The latest credit line that we have provided in cooperation with EIB will allow us to give this segment of the economy additional incentives on the road to further economic recovery through very favourable sources of financing in the long run.”
Banca Intesa will grant loans from the EIB credit line with a repayment period of 2 to 12 years and a grace period of up to two years. The loans can be used to finance durable working assets; purchase, reconstruction or extension of fixed assets except for land; intangible investments; development, planning and financial costs during construction; research and development costs, and development of distribution networks in the country and abroad.
This is the fourth credit line that Banca Intesa has signed with EIB since 2006, and thanks to the cooperation of the two institutions so far, Banca Intesa has approved loans to the domestic economy to a total value of €100 million.
The company Intesa Leasing, which together with Banca Intesa operates as part of the international banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, also signed a contract for a €20 million credit line with EIB. These funds are intended for small and medium enterprises and can be used to finance commercial and passenger vehicles, equipment and property for their own business needs, and can be approved with a repayment period of two to seven years.
Through two previous credit lines realised with EIB Intesa Leasing has supported businesses with €10 million.