The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it has provided a loan of 20 million euros to Intesa Belgrade to support companies and local governments in Serbia, in order to cope with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The EBRD specified that this is short-term financing, which is part of the financial institution’s response to the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, in order to strengthen the resilience of the local economy.
EBRD funds are intended for the liquidity needs of companies, small businesses and local governments in Serbia, which have a decline in activity and turnover.
“The EBRD continues to increase financing of local operations through its outstanding partner banks, in order to maintain operations and preserve jobs. With new financing for Intesa Bank, our funds for the real economy in Serbia, provided by creditors, are approaching 400 million euros this year alone,” said EBRD Western Balkans Regional Director Zsuzsanna Hargitai.
The executive director of the bank Intesa Belgrade, Draginja Djuric, said that the new credit line of 20 million euros continues the cooperation with the EBRD, which is a long-term partner of that bank.
“We are very pleased that we can help the funds to better overcome the negative consequences of the coronavirus on their business and thus contribute to the economic recovery of the economy,” she said.
Djuric reminded that Intesa Bank has so far made more than 288 million euros available to citizens and companies in Serbia through a credit line agreement together with the EBRD.
The statement also states that the EBRD is the leading institutional investor in Serbia, which has so far invested more than 6.3 billion euros in 277 projects in the country.
It was pointed out that the EBRD focuses on supporting the development of the private sector, the improvement of public utilities and the overall transition to a green economy, N1 reports.
