The European Investment Bank Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Investment Fund (EIF), increased its support to Slovenia in 2021 and invested €257.2 in the country.
The EIB lent €80 million in two operations, and the EIF provided €177.2 million in guarantees covering loans for SMEs, mid-caps and municipalities in three separate operations.
For both the EIB Group and the EIF, 2021 was a record year in Slovenia. The EIF reached its highest investment volume on record in Slovenia. The EIB Group increased its total annual lending by €3 million compared 2020.
The €24.4 billion European Guarantee Fund (EGF) established in late 2020 the EIB Group and 22 Member States including Slovenia to help companies in the European Union, especially SMEs, recover from the pandemic-related crisis, provided €177.2 million for Slovenian SMEs. Since December 2020, the EIB Group has approved €23.2 billion in financing with EGF backing and its investments to date are expected to mobilise €174.4 billion.
EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, who is in charge of operations in Slovenia, said: “Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic I am happy to see that the EIB Group rose to the challenge and provided solid figures for investments for Slovenia. The EIB Group proved to be a reliable partner of Slovenia even in the most difficult of times, and together with our partners in the country such as the Government of Slovenia, SID Banka and SRDF, commercial banks like UniCredit we ensured Slovenia can continue to work, grow, and develop faster, greener, and sustainably. I would like to thank Slovenian Ministry of Finance for their support for the EGF – a key support mechanism for SMEs across the EU. We have major challenges ahead of us including climate action and COVID-19 recovery but with the support like the one we enjoy in Slovenia I am sure we are on the road of overcoming them successfully.”
Andrej Sircelj, Minister of Finance in the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, said: ”During the pandemic, we adopted measures to help the people and the economy. The measures were aimed at preserving jobs and maintaining functioning of the economy. The measures were successful. It is important that during this time, we also showed solidarity at the EU level and adopted the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The RRF is focused on the green and digital transition, which shows that our goals are not only focused on growth but also on development. These goals are also supported by the EIB, which has been present in Slovenia since 1977. I believe that we will further improve this cooperation in the future and expand it to more areas.”