A further EUR 92m for Slovak SMEs, following JEREMIE agreements signed with 2 more banks

The European Investment Fund (EIF), together with Slovenský záručný a rozvojový fond s.r.o. (SZRF), have signed a guarantee agreement with Slovenská sporiteľňa and a portfolio risk-sharing agreement with Sberbank Slovensko a.s. under the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) initiative, allowing the two banks to provide up to EUR 92 million of new loans to Slovak Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

These transactions add two additional market players to the three banks already implementing JEREMIE instruments in Slovakia, and allow SMEs in Slovakia to benefit from investment and working capital loans offered by both banks at preferential conditions. The banks will be providing loans over the course of the next two years, with the loan products targeting all regions except for Bratislava. Information for SMEs on how to access loans supported through the above mentioned JEREMIE instruments will soon be available from both banks.

Commenting on the new operations, EIF Deputy Director Head of Regional Business Development Hubert Cottogni said: “These two transactions mark an important step in the further development of the JEREMIE initiative in Slovakia. In addition to the deals signed with the three Slovak banks last year, these two new transactions will further improve access to a total of EUR 262m of finance for local SMEs and thus contribute to the creation of new jobs and growth of the Slovak economy in the continuing difficult economic climate”.

The State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic Vazil Hudak said: “In spite of prevailing economic uncertainty in the European Union, the Slovak economy continues to show stronger growth rates than most of the other EU member states as well as high potential for further growth. At the same time, the Slovak economy is in need of additional incentives for growth and job creation which include wider and easier access to financing for small and medium enterprises”.

The Head of Office of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic Martin Holak said: “JEREMIE is a new way of investing community funds for the benefit of SMEs. With these signatures, we aim to address the difficulties which SMEs are currently facing in the Slovak market and to contribute to the economic recovery by stimulating growth. Along with the new financial instrument, JEREMIE helps create a leverage effect to increase the volume of loans available to SMEs.”

The Member of the Board of Directors of Slovenská sporiteľna Peter Krutil commented on the newly signed guarantee agreement with EIF and SZRF: “JEREMIE First Loss Porfolio Guarantee will enable us to lower collateral requirements, as well as reduce interest rate on loans. Thanks to this new product we expect to substantially facilitate access to finance to SME clients”.

CEO Sberbank Slovensko Rastislav Murgaš said: “Sberbank Slovensko as the first bank in Slovakia decided to enter into the new JEREMIE initiative "Portfolio Risk-Sharing Loan". The features of the new programme enable us to provide much more favourable conditions for SME financing, especially in terms of pricing as well as collateral requirements. We believe, that loans provided by our bank within JEREMIE programme will help SMEs to expand their business in difficult economic environment“.

These agreements result from two Calls for expression of interest, targeted at banks operating in Slovakia. Both Calls were part of the implementation in Slovakia of the JEREMIE initiative, financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Operational Programme “Competitiveness and Economic Growth” for 2007 - 2013. Slovak SMEs are already benefiting from finance provided by three banks implementing the guarantee instrument under the JEREMIE initiative.

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 put money from the Structural Funds and also national resources into holding funds that can finance SMEs in a flexible and innovative way. The new initiative aims at developing and fostering the role of entrepreneurship within the EU.

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 Slovakia, the JEREMIE Holding Fund is financed from the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Operational Programmes “Competitiveness and Economic Growth”, “Research & Development” and “Bratislava Region”, which together have contributed EUR 100m.

About EIF

The European Investment Fund's (EIF) central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to 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 5.6bn in over 300 operations at end 2013, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

About Slovenská sporitelna

Slovenská sporiteľňa is with almost 2.5 million clients the largest commercial bank in Slovakia. Its only shareholder is the Austrian Erste Group Bank. Slovenská sporiteľňa has a long-term leading position in total assets, retail loans, client deposits, number of sales points and ATMs. It offers complex banking services in 297 sales points and 18 commercial centres in all regions of Slovakia.

About Sberbank Slovensko, a.s.

Sberbank Slovensko, a.s. is a member of Sberbank Group, a leading global financial institution, which has more than 110 million individual customers and 1 million corporate clients in 20 countries. In Russia Sberbank of Russia is the largest bank holding almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit taker in Russia. In CEE Sberbank Europe manages a banking network of nine universal banks in eight countries including Slovakia. Sberbank Europe operates 280 branches and has 4,500 employees (as at 31.12.2012). More information is available on www.sberbank.sk.

Press contacts:

• EIF:  David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org
• Ministry of Finance: Radko Kuruc, radko.kuruc@mfsr.sk
• Slovenská sporitelna: Štefan Frimmer, frimmer.stefan@slsp.sk
• Sberbank Slovensko: Ľubomíra Chmelová, lubomira.chmelova@sberbank.sk