EIF backs Romanian SMEs with 59.3 mln euro in loans

Romania's EU funds ministry said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with the European Investment Fund (EIF) to extend 59.3 million euro ($65.7 million) in financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), seenews.com informs.

The two institutions have created a competitiveness fund, aiming to improve access to risk capital and loan financing of innovative firms in Romania, the ministry said in a statement.

"We have to think from now on how to get to the next stage, in which the EU funds will be perceived as financial instruments rather than grants,” EU funds minister Cristian Ghinea said in the statement.

The agreement is a continuation of the successful JEREMIE initiative, EIF's director for Central and Eastern Europe, Piotr Stolowski, explained.

JEREMIE is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the Structural Funds framework for the period 2007-2013. The initiative supported 6,000 loans and investments for SMEs valued at 600 million euro.

EIFis part of EIB and its main mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance.

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