The EBRD has signed today three credit lines worth a total of €350 million with subsidiaries of National Bank of Greece in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia for on-lending to businesses in their respective countries.
United Bulgarian Bank will receive €150 million, Banca Romaneasca will receive €100 million, and Vojvodjanska Banka will get €100 million of new funding from the EBRD.
The EBRD financing will provide the three banks with medium term senior funding to support their funding base, diversify and extend the maturity of their liabilities and enhance their lending to the economy.
The National Bank of Greece bought Vojvodjanska Banka in September 2006 for €385 million.
”The EBRD is very pleased to expand its cooperation with the subsidiaries of the National Bank of Greece in the region, as support for these banks and the real economy in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia is important to boost economic recovery. The project will help to ensure a continued flow of credit to private companies operating in these countries, which is essential to foster development in difficult macro-economic conditions”, said Nick Tesseyman, EBRD Managing Director for Financial Institutions.
This package of loans, to be provided in two equal tranches, is part of the Joint International Financial Institutions Action Plan.
Under the Joint IFI Action Plan, unveiled in February 2009, the EBRD, the World Bank Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) pledged to provide €24.5 billion over two years to support the economies of eastern Europe via the banking sectors.
Source Ekapija.com
