The European Investment Bank (EIB) and ING Bank Romania signed a loan contract for 40 million Euros in Bucharest today. The loan will be dedicated to all types of final beneficiaries in Romania, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), and will target customers of the Romanian branch of ING Bank.

The intermediated loan will allow for financing of small and medium-sized projects that will be undertaken by SMEs and by midcap companies (i.e. companies with up to 3000 employees) as well as by public sector entities or other types of private sector promoters in Romania.

With today’s signature, the EIB has so far signed a total of 9.4 billion Euros since the beginning of the Bank’s lending activities in Romania in 1993. 700 million Euros were signed over the last five years, to support almost 2,900 SME projects. EIB’s Vice-President Mihai Tanasescu, responsible for lending activities in Romania, said on the occasion of signature: “Over the last few years, we have seen a clear demand for SME financing in Romania. Midcap companies are, however, facing challenges in obtaining funding as they are often too big to be adequately addressed by existing SME programs. The loan we are signing today with ING Bank Romania will respond to these needs and will allow for direct and efficient access to the necessary financing. Currently, the EIB works with eleven financial intermediaries in Romania. Through this extensive network of partner banks, the EIB offers its support to Romanian SMEs.”

“SMEs and mid-corporate companies are an important vehicle for re-igniting the economic recovery. As small and medium businesses are growing, we aim to leverage their evolution and increasingly support the complex needs they might have in the near future”, said Michal Szczurek, CEO ING Bank Romania.

Through the contract signed today with EIB, ING Bank Romania continues its strategy of supporting the local entrepreneurs on all segments -  from SMEs to large companies.

Today’s signature is EIB’s first loan with the Romanian branch of ING Bank as intermediary. In the past, ING Bank has repeatedly been a counterpart of the EIB, notably in the Benelux area and recently also in a few other European countries.