Serbia’s SME investment-finance market is broadening beyond conventional bank lending, as new EBRD-backed leasing facilities inject fresh capital into machinery, equipment and green technology and intensify competition for corporate borrowers.
AikLeasing, owned by AikBank, has signed a €40 million financing package with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, comprising €30 million for SME leasing and another €10 million under the SME Go Green programme.
At least 30% of investments financed through the main facility are expected to meet the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition criteria, with additional emphasis on companies outside Belgrade.
The green tranche will support investments in energy efficiency, resource efficiency, renewable energy and greener agribusiness supply chains.
The transaction matters because leasing is becoming a more relevant source of productive investment capital in a Serbian market still dominated by bank loans.
Unlike general-purpose working-capital facilities, leasing is typically tied directly to assets such as production machinery, commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment and energy-efficiency technologies. That puts new funding closer to the CAPEX decisions that determine whether smaller companies can expand capacity or modernise operations.
The latest package also comes as the EBRD increases support elsewhere in Serbia’s leasing sector.
NLB Lease&Go Serbia has separately secured approval for facilities of up to €30 million covering SME, green and outcomes-linked financing.
Taken together, the transactions suggest international development capital is increasingly being deployed through leasing companies alongside traditional banks, potentially creating more competition for SME investment business.
That could improve access to finance for companies that need equipment but cannot, or do not want to, rely entirely on conventional secured borrowing.
The shift is particularly relevant for Serbian manufacturers facing rising investment requirements.
Export-oriented companies are under growing pressure from EU customers, lenders and supply-chain partners to improve energy efficiency, automate production and reduce carbon intensity. For many SMEs, the principal constraint is not the availability of technology but the upfront cost of acquiring it.
Development-backed leasing can narrow that financing gap.
The regional component is also significant.
Corporate finance, services and investment activity remain concentrated in Belgrade and a limited number of larger industrial centres. Directing more asset finance towards businesses outside the capital could support smaller industrial clusters without depending on large foreign direct investment projects.
For AikLeasing, the EBRD package strengthens its ability to compete for corporate clients at a time when leasing is moving beyond its traditional association with passenger vehicles and transport assets.
The wider market question is whether these facilities can materially increase Serbia’s SME investment rate rather than simply refinance purchases that would have happened anyway.
If they generate genuinely additional CAPEX, leasing could become a more important financing channel for manufacturing, logistics, agriculture and energy-intensive industries.
The significance of the latest deal therefore lies less in the €40 million headline than in the market structure behind it: more institutions competing to finance the machinery and technology that will determine the productivity of Serbia’s SME sector.
