Gorenje to Get EUR 50 Million in Loan from EIB

Chairman of the Gorenje Management Board Franjo Bobinac and Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Laszlo Baranyay will sign in the presence of Slovene Prime Minister Miro Cerar and European Commissioner Violeta Bulc on Tuesday a contract under which the EIB will support Gorenje’s research, development and innovation programmes with EUR 50 million. This is the first transaction in Slovenia under the InnovFin Programme.

The EIB will support with the funds the Gorenje Group’s 2016-2019 plans for the production of user- and environment-friendly household appliances. The group will implement the projects aiming to achieve this goal at its centres in Slovenia, Sweden, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, said a statement posted on the EIB website.

Last year, Gorenje increased its investments in product development by 0.3 percent to 2.7 percent of the group’s sales profit, which reached EUR 1.225 billion. In the coming period, Gorenje plans to boost its investments still further.

The Slovene government adopted a decision not to oppose the EIB loan of up to EUR 50 million to Gorenje last autumn. It was stated then that the loan would not be insured.

The EU is trying to help innovative companies get money. Consequently, the European Commission and the EIB have established the InnoFin Programme, enabling these companies to obtain more than EUR 24 billion by 2020.