Banca Intesa and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement on a 30 million euro credit line tranche that will be on-lent by Banca Intesa to small businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the form of long-term lending on better-than-market terms. The tranche is part of a 60 million euro credit line which the EIB approved to Banca Intesa for the SME sector.
„SMEs are a key lever of sustainable growth of the domestic economy in the long run, which is why fostering their development is a very important element of overall support that Banca Intesa is providing to the real economy. The latest credit line we secured in cooperation with the EIB will enable us to give an additional boost to this very segment of the economy on road to further recovery through very favorable long-term sources of finance“, said Draginja Djuric, president of Banca Intesa Executive Board.
Loans from the EIB credit line will have a repayment term of 2 to 12 years and a grace period of up to 2 years. They can be used for financing non-current working assets; purchase, reconstruction or expansion of fixed assets other than land; intangible assets; development, planning and financial costs during construction; research and development costs; as well as development of distribution network in the country and abroad.
This is the fourth credit line that Banca Intesa has signed with the EIB since 2006. Owing to cooperation between the two financial institutions, Banca Intesa has so far provided the domestic economy with 100 million euros in total lending.
Intesa Leasing, also a subsidiary of international banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, has signed an agreement with the EIB on a 20 million euro credit line. The funds are intended for SMEs and can be used for financing commercial and passenger vehicles, equipment and real estate for own business needs, with a repayment period of 2 to 7 years.
Through two earlier credit lines implemented with the EIB, Intesa Leasing has supported the economy with 10 million euros to date.