The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a new JEREMIE agreement with CEC Bank under the Portfolio Risk Sharing Loan instrument. The agreement will allow CEC Bank to provide up to EUR 10 million of new loans to Romanian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), bringing the total amount available to the SMEs banks implementing the instrument in Romania to EUR 130 million.

Thanks to the JEREMIE Portfolio Risk Sharing Loan instrument, SMEs in Romania obtain easier access to financing by benefiting from investment and working capital loans offered at lower interest than market terms. Information for SMEs on how to access loans supported through the above mentioned JEREMIE instrument will soon be available from CEC Bank.

"The financing agreement signed with the European Investment Fund under the JEREMIE initiative underlines once again CEC Bank‘s strategy to support SMEs. We believe that our clients will benefit from better price conditions and flexible guarantees. Furthermore, our Bank provides professional advice regarding the financing of investments and working capital through our SMEs and European Funds Counselling Offices in each county", said Mr. Radu Gratian Ghetea, President of CEC Bank.

Commenting on the new agreement, Mr. Hubert Cottogni, EIF’s Head of Mandate Management, stated: „We are expanding the deployment of financial support to Romanian SMEs by adding a major Romanian bank to our loans scheme. Under the JEREMIE initiative EIF is helping to remove the traditional obstacles between banks and SMEs by providing each party with the needed solutions to keep a strong flow of funding for business development”.

Under the JEREMIE initiative, two other financial instruments have been implemented by the EIF in Romania: through the First Loss Portfolio Guarantee, over 2,000 new loans in total value of over EUR 240m with significantly lower collateral requirements have been supported, whereas the only country-focused risk capital fund in Romania, 3TS Catalyst, has invested in the Romanian companies Simartis and AvocatNet / Intelligo Media (www.superlege.ro).

About CEC Bank

CEC Bank is a competitive universal commercial bank, which provides high-quality products and services to its clients. CEC Bank’s portfolio is one of the most diverse on the Romanian market, providing its clients with a wide range of loans, deposits, cards, letters of guarantee, treasury products, special EU financing programs and Internet Banking Services. In 2013, the Bank has managed to increase by 8% the portfolio of loans granted to legal persons when, at the bank system level, a 3% setback was seen. The loans for small and medium enterprises, agriculture and local public authorities were the main focus of the Bank for last year, also.

About the EIF

The European Investment Fund's (EIF) central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by supporting their access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance 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. EIF’s total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 7.9bn at end 2013.

With investments in over 435 funds, 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.

EIF’s guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR 5.6 bn in over 300 operations at end 2013, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

About JEREMIE

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission (Directorate General 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 contribute funds from structural funds and national resources into holding funds aimed at supporting SMEs access to finance in a flexible and innovative way.

To date, at EU level, EIF manages a total of 14 JEREMIE Holding Funds, of which 7 at national level and 7 at regional level.

In Romania, the JEREMIE Holding Fund is managed by EIF and is financed through the European Regional Development Fund under the 2007-2013 Sectoral Operational Programme – Increase of Economic Competitiveness.

Press contacts:

EIF: David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org
CEC Bank: Oltea Belciuganu, Director of Marketing and Communications Department, oltea.belciuganu@cec.ro