European Investment Fund provides 170m euros for SMEs, students in Romania

The European Investment Fund (EIF) signed on Wednesday four financing agreements in Romania, extending more than 170 million euros to Romania for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and to credit students who want to continue their studies abroad. EIF and the non-bank financial institution FINS signed a first 4.5 million-euro agreement under the Erasmus+ Master Loan Guarantee Facility in Romania that will allow FINS to credit students who wish to pursue master's studies abroad. About 450 postgraduate students will enjoy easy-term loans for studying in another EU country, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Northern Macedonia, Norway or Turkey. At the same time, EIF signed COSME agreements with CEC Bank (25 million euros), Deutsche Leasing Romania IFN (80 million euros) and Libra Internet Bank (65 million euros) to facilitate access to loans and funding for nearly 3,000 SMEs. "For the first time in Romania, the EIF will support access to funding for 450 students who will be able to obtain loans to cover the cost of studies, thus enhancing the possibility of training for a wider range of students. Also under our new COSME agreements, we will improve financing conditions for 3,000 SMEs, thus improving the competitiveness of an important segment of the Romanian economy, which is the engine of growth, job creation and innovation," said EIF Deputy Chief Executive Roger Havenith at the signing ceremony of the agreements. EIF is part of the European Investment Bank Group, being a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Europe. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Cernat, editor: Mariana Nica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)