EIF signs agreements for a EUR 100m JEREMIE holding fund to support businesses in Slovakia

EIF's Chief Executive, Mr Richard Pelly, together with the Slovak Minister of Education, Mr Jan Mikolaj, Minister of Construction and Regional Development, Mr. Igor Stefanov and State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Mr. Peter Ziga, today signed JEREMIE funding agreements * aimed at supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovakia.

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises initiative), a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Investment Fund, aims to facilitate access to finance for SMEs.

The EUR 100m holding fund in Slovakia adds to the EUR 1 billion euros the EIF is managing through JEREMIE holding funds across the European Union using structural funds to bring a new sustainable approach to SME financing.

EIF's Chief Executive Richard Pelly said "We are pleased to be helping to enhance access to finance for Slovak small and medium sized businesses.These funding agreements committing contributions to the EUR 100 million holding fund are the result of months of negotiations and discussions with the Slovak government authorities. We are convinced that this partnership we have created will enable us to design and implement a toolkit of revolving financial instruments for the long term benefit of SMEs across Slovakia."

The Minister of Finance, Mr Jan Pociatek, said "We are delighted to be working with the European Investment Fund and to benefit from their expertise and market experience in SME finance. This know-how combined with our local knowledge will help to bring lasting benefits to the financial sector and to SMEs in Slovakia."

 About JEREMIE

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission (DG Regional Policy) and the European Investment Bank group to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the structural funds framework for the period 2007 - 2013. JEREMIE enables the EU member states and regions to put money from the structural funds, co-financed by national resources, into holding funds that can indirectly finance SMEs in a flexible and innovative way. Since the instruments are designed on a repayable basis, funding returned will be reinvested and hence more SMEs will benefit from the EU resources.

EIF has to date signed 7 national (Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Bulgaria) and 2 regional (in France - Languedoc Roussillon, and Italy - Campania) holding fund agreements.

The new initiative aims at developing and fostering the role of entrepreneurship within the EU in order to meet the objectives of the Lisbon agenda and to help structural funds deliver greater benefits to the market.

In Slovakia the JEREMIE holding fund is financed from EU structural funds under the Operational Programmes Competitiveness and Economic Growth, Research and Development and Bratislava Region under the 2007-2013 programming period. A contribution from the Operational Programme Environment is also expected to be finalised before year end.

About EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. The EIF total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 3.7bn at 30^th June 2009. With investments in over 300 funds, the EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF commitment in guarantees totaled over EUR 13.3bn in close to 190 operations, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

Contact

For further information, please contact David Yormesor, e-mail: d.yormesor@eif.org

* three of the four funding agreements have been signed, with the fourth due to be signed as soon as practicably possible. The current total from the three agreements amounts to EUR 68m. The fourth funding agreement will make up the remaining EUR 32m.