EIB continues to support projects of SMEs and mid-caps in Russia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing two loans to Russian subsidiary banks of leading EU banking groups to support projects promoted by small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies in the Russian Federation:

• €100 million for UniCredit Bank, and;
• €40m for Raiffeisen Bank.

Both credit lines, extended in the framework of the EU-Russia Partnership for Modernisation, are first-time EIB operations with the two financing institutions in the Russian Federation, and the first EIB loans to subsidiaries of EU banks in the country.

EIB Vice-President responsible for lending operations in Russia Wilhelm Molterer said: “I welcome the fact that EIB funds will contribute to the development of the Russian private sector by improving the access of SMEs and mid-caps to long-term finance.”

The EIB loans will finance projects contributing to the diversification of the Russian economy. Both credit lines are in line with the EIB’s priority of supporting growth and jobs by lending to SMEs. To this end, t he EIB is joining forces with two major financing institutions that have a well-established presence in the local market and serve SMEs and mid-cap companies.

The Partnership for Modernisation, launched at the 25th EU-Russia Summit in 2010, serves as a flexible framework for encouraging reform, boosting growth and fostering competitiveness. All of these objectives are supported by promoting small- and medium-sized enterprises and developing the exchange of experience between the EIB and Russian financial institutions on the subject of financial services for SMEs and mid-caps. To date, the EIB has extended seven loans to support the Partnership for Modernisation, for a total amount of EUR 1 billion.

Background

The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its member states. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

The EIB finances projects in the Russian Federation on the basis of an EU Council and European Parliament lending mandate for the Eastern Neighbourhood countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine) of EUR 3.8 billion for the period 2007-2013 to contribute to local private sector development, the improvement of social and economic infrastructure, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

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