ĐELIĆ: EIB grants 250 million euros for Serbian companies

(Božidar Đelić)

Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic stated yesterday in Luxembourg that the European Investment Bank (EIB) will grant a €250 million loan for strengthening the Serbian banking system.

Djelic said that he had a meeting with EIB President Philippe Maystadt in Luxembourg yesterday and reminded that that the EIB is by far the largest infrastructure financier in Serbia with over €2.6 billion of invested fund.

The agreement was reached to use 250 million euros to refinance maturing obligations of the most successful Serbian companies and in that way help them continue with their business operations and investment.

He recalled that the EIB’s previous programme also amounting to €250 million was a huge success since it was used to finance over 350 programmes, eventually leading to the creation of 2,900 new jobs.

The Deputy Prime Minister explained that, bearing in mind the success of the previous tranche, decision has been made to sign an agreement on a new €250 million tranche by the end of the year to help Serbian companies.

This way, Serbian companies will be able to refinance short-term loans with a repayment period of two-three years and interest rates between 10% and 12% by EIB loans with a repayment period of seven to twelve years and interest rates no higher than 5-6%, he explained.

Djelic also noted that at the meeting they agreed to open an EIB regional office in Belgrade on 27 September.

EIB

Vlada Republike Srbije

Božidar Đelić

Luxembourg

Philippe Maystadt