The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have agreed on the ongoing management of the JEREMIE Holding Fund. EIF will continue managing the JEREMIE Holding Fund; however, following discussions at the Holding Fund Steering Committee this year, the overall size of the Fund will be reduced by EUR 40 million to a new level of EUR 170 million before the end of this year. The Ministry of Economy intends to use the EUR 40 million for other support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Mr Daumantas Lapinskas, Vice-Minister of Economy stated, “EIF is a leading European player in the private equity funds market. It is important to retain EIF in Lithuania and further increase its role in consolidating and building Lithuanian private equity and risk capital expertise while we are establishing adequate national competences. Since risk capital is still emerging in Lithuania, it is important to have continuity, where the highermost professional standards are applied in selecting financial intermediaries, managing equity transactions and launching of new instruments. It is extremely important that first private equity transactions into SMEs are successful from the inception of the funds which will help to continue building experience and expertise of private equity intermediaries.”

Mr Graham Cope, Head of Region at the European Investment Fund said, “The Ministry has made an important decision to enable EIF to further develop the SME financing infrastructure within Lithuania and we are proud to continue leading this process. The hard work to make further financing available to SMEs must proceed and we appreciate the trust the Ministry has put into us.”

The Holding Fund activity comprises a number of financial instruments which are implemented with selected financial intermediaries. Currently there are four different banks (AB Swedbank, AB SEB Bankas, AB Siauliu Bankas and Nordea Bank Plc Lithuania Branch) implementing two types of debt instruments worth EUR 82 million which in total are expected to stimulate a lending volume of over EUR 215 million. Additionally, three different venture capital fund managers (BaltCap, LitCapital and Strata/MES Invest) are implementing the equity-related transactions worth EUR 36 million with total investments expected to reach more than EUR 56 million. Thus far, over 250 Lithuanian SMEs have benefited from the financing delivered from the Lithuanian Holding Fund.

The EIF is currently implementing a new product designed to stimulate transactions in leasing and a new early stage equity product to boost seed capital investments with further products under development.

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 and also national resources into holding funds that can finance SMEs in a flexible and innovative way. The initiative aims at developing and fostering the role of entrepreneurship within the EU in order to help structural funds to deliver greater benefits to the market.

In Lithuania, JEREMIE Holding Fund is financed from the EU Structural Funds under 2007-2013 Economic Growth Operational Programme of Lithuania and managed by the EIF.

About the EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance. EIF primarily 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 venture capital and private equity funds amounted to over EUR 5.4bn at end 2010. With investments in over 300 funds, the EIF is the leading player in European venture capital due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in the high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF commitment in guarantees totaled over EUR 14.7bn in close to 160 operations at end 2010, positioning it as a major European SME loan guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

Press Contacts:

EIF: Graham Cope, Head of Northern Europe, Regional Business Development, Tel. +352 248 581 236, e-mail g.cope@eif.org

Susanne Gutjahr, Head of Communications, Tel. +352 248 581 487, e-mail s.gutjahr@eif.org