First EIF guarantee agreement with a leasing company under the CIP

The EIF and Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy S.A., have signed a EUR 40 million guarantee agreement under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) helping to provide enhanced access to finance for Polish businesses.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland could potentially have access to over EUR 80 million of additional funding for equipment guaranteed under the CIP which will help to support new entrepreneurs and create new jobs.

This guarantee agreement with a leasing company allows Polish entrepreneurs - primarily start-ups, to have easier access to IT equipment, specialist machinery and transport vehicles in Poland. The conditions for this guarantee agreement for SMEs are more attractive as in certain cases there are little or no collateral requirements for potential entrepreneurs.

This is the first EIF guarantee agreement with a leasing company in the European Union and is the second European Investment Fund guarantee agreement in Poland.

Background information:

The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), which spans from 2007 to 2013, has been put in place to boost European productivity, innovation capacity and sustainable growth, whilst simultaneously addressing complementary environmental concerns.

Within the framework of the CIP, the European Investment Fund (EIF) has been allocated EUR 1.1bn to be split between venture capital – with the High Growth and Innovative SME Facility (GIF) - and guarantees – with the SME Guarantee Facility (SMEG).

Under the SMEG, financial institutions are encouraged to enhance access to finance for SMEs.  The facility offers an excellent tool to allocate additional financing volumes for those SMEs that would not otherwise have access to resources and financial engineering instruments because of the increased lending risk entailed.  As such, The SMEG complements and broadens EIF’s own product offering.

The EU CIP SMEG Facility gives the EIF the opportunity to play an essential role in supporting sustainable job creation and entrepreneurship in European SMEs. 

About EFL

European Leasing Fund S.A. is the largest financial institution in Poland, offering leasing for any assets. Since 2001, EFL has been part of the international institution Crédit Agricole Group, which is the world's leading banking group in terms of volume of capital. EFL has been cooperating with most major producers and suppliers of machinery, equipment, vehicles and other assets for several years. More than 200.000 clients have chosen EFL as their partner in business.

About EIF

The EIF central mission is to support Europe’s 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, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.  

• For further information, please contact David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org, or visit EIF’s website www.eif.org  
• For further information about EFL, please contact Marek Mazur, Marek.Mazur@efl.com.pl, or visit EFL’s website www.efl.pl