EUR 11.1 million guarantee to Estonian Guarantee Fund “KredEx”

Luxembourg, 26 April 2004 - Just as Estonia marks its entry as a Member of the European Union on 1 May, so too is EIF marking its entry into a first ever Estonian guarantee deal. EIF has agreed to provide a EUR 11.1m counter-guarantee under the framework of the European Commission's "Multiannual Programme for Enterprise (MAP)" with the Estonian Credit and Export Guarantee Fund KredEx (KredEx). Established in 2000 by the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, KredEx is a guarantee fund with the aim to support the development of SMEs as well as export and housing. KredEx's loan and leasing guarantees are issued to the benefit of starting and already operating small and medium-sized companies, unable to obtain adequate financing due to their insufficient collateral or operational history.

By entering into this agreement, the seventh one signed in the new Member States and Accession countries under the MAP Guarantee facilities, EIF will for the first time cooperate with an intermediary in Estonia. Including KredEx, EIF's guarantee portfolio in the new Member States and the Accession countries now totals some EUR 104m in counter-guarantees signed in Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia.

Alessandro Tappi, responsible for Guarantees and Securitisation at EIF, said I welcome this new cooperation which will enable KredEx to provide enhanced access to debt finance via its guarantees at favourable terms for SMEs. With this transaction, further coverage is provided to the new Member States and Accession countries for the MAP guarantee facilities, which now cover a total of 19 countries with total guarantee commitments close to EUR 2 billion.