InvestEU: EIF guarantee enables SZRB to provide over €70 million in new loans to Slovak SMEs

Date: 10 October 2023

Slovenská záručná a rozvojová banka (SZRB), a state-owned financial intermediary, has signed a guarantee deal with the European Investment Fund to support Slovak SMEs.
The EIF guarantee will enable SZRB to provide over €70 million in targeted financing to enhance businesses’ competitiveness and support sustainability projects.
The guarantee is made possible with the support of the InvestEU programme, which aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment over the period 2021-27.

The European Investment Fund and Slovenská záručná a rozvojová banka have signed a guarantee agreement to facilitate more than €70 million in new financing in the form of loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovakia. The EIF guarantee is made possible with the support of the InvestEU programme, which aims to mobilise over €372 billion in additional investment for EU policy priorities over the period 2021-2027. This initiative represents a significant step towards fostering economic recovery and supporting strategic investments in Slovakia.

EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt said: “We’re very happy to build on the EIF’s long-standing partnership with SZRB, to make available financing where and when it is necessary. Our goal is to improve the access to finance and competitiveness of European businesses, in particular SMEs, which we consider the backbone of our economies. We know from experience that SZRB is well-placed to help channel the financing to those businesses that need it.”

The EIF guarantee will enable SZRB to create a new source of more affordable financing, thus ensuring that Slovak SMEs have sufficient funds available to enhance their competitiveness and can support green investments. Companies will be able to boost their working capital, additional liquidity needs or ongoing and new investments and expansion plans.

CEO and Chairman of the Board of SZRB Peter Dávid said: “The guarantee agreement with the EIF will enable SZRB to provide more affordable and longer-term funding to Slovak small and medium-sized enterprises for working capital purposes, expansions, refinancing operations or investments. SZRB will transfer the benefits obtained from the EIF guarantee to its clients in the form of extended loan maturities and limited collateral requirements. This programme is tailor-made with a unique maturity which can reach up to 20 years. An additional benefit under the sustainability theme of InvestEU is the reduction of interest rates. The launch of this new loan programme backed by the EIF guarantee is a further step on the bank’s transformation path. Its aim is to reshape SZRB into a modern and efficient state-owned bank supporting the Slovak SME sector.”

The EIF guarantee is covered under two different envelopes on the InvestEU programme, one of which is focused on SME competitiveness, and the other on sustainability investments. In total, it is expected that around 450 Slovak SMEs will be able to benefit from the newly available financing.

Background information:

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investment for EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one roof a multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increasing their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Slovenská záručná a rozvojová banka a. s. (SZRB) was established as a state-owned financial institution in 1991 and became a joint-stock company in 2002. The only shareholder is the state, which exercises its shareholder rights through the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. The bank is focused mainly on supporting small and medium-sized companies in Slovakia.

Press contacts:

EIB: Tim Smit | +352 691 286 423 | t.smit@eib.org; Website: www.eib.org/press
Press Office: +352 4379 21000 – press@eib.org

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