Slovak Investment Holding, Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank and UniCredit Bank join forces to support SMEs

Slovak Investment Holding, Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank and UniCredit Bank join forces to support SMEs

01.10.2018

Bratislava, October 1, 2018 – Three institutions – Slovak Investment Holding (SIH),  Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank (SZRB), UniCredit Bank – are launching a financial cooperation. It aims to provide preferential loans for Slovak small and medium-sized enterprises. Loans are planned for more than 600 businesses totaling around EUR 220 million. Businesses will be able to submit their first loan applications already this year.

The loans come from SIH financial instruments funded by the Operational Program Research and Innovation and from additional sources of SZRB and UniCredit Bank. SIH isthe main partner of the project andprovides a EUR 24.2 million loan instrument for SZRB and a guarantee instrument for UniCredit Bank in the amount of EUR 12.1 million. Through these instruments, SIH is taking on some of the portfolio risk from the provided loans, thus enabling and supporting more favorable financing for small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovakia. It is expected that SZRB and UniCredit Bank, in cooperation with SIH, will be able to provide loans to more than 600 companies by the year 2023 for a total of approximately EUR 220 million. Companies can apply for a loan this year at any branch of SZRB and UniCredit Bank in Slovakia.

“I am pleased that we have managed to set a high co-financing rate for SZRB and UniCredit Bank,” noted Ivan Lesay, CEO of SIH. The co-financing rate reflects the level of additional resources contributed to lending by the participating banks, thus multiplying the overall investment potential of public resources. In other words, every single euro of public money under the SIH management mobilises up to 6 euros of loan financing for Slovak businesses. In case of the cooperation between SIH, SZRB and UniCredit Bank, an even higher co-financing rate was achieved than in the case of the similar investment activities of the European Investment Fund in Slovakia in the past.

Dušan Tomašec, CEO of SZRB states the following: “The signingof today’s contract is just another proof of the advantageous, reliable and stable financial support of our bank for Slovak enterprises.” The main objective of SIH, SZRB and UniCredit Bank is to provide favorable loan conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises, whether in the form of reduced interest rates or less demanding collateral requirements.

SZRB and UniCredit Bank were selected for cooperation with SIH through a public procurement procedure. SIH has an option to double the finance for SZRB and UniCredit Bank, should the banks run out of resources provided at this stage. “UniCredit Bank’s aim is to continuously improve the quality of service for our clients. I strongly believe that cooperation with SIH will help us to achieve this goal,” said Miroslav Štrokendl, Head of the Slovak Branch of UniCredit Bank.

As opposed to traditional grants, financial instruments represent an innovative, repayable form of financing from the European Structural and Investment Funds. According to Ivan Lesay, this investmentapproach represents the future of EU investment resources. Through this model, SIH is able to integrate financial resources and expertise from commercial banks into its investments. At the same time, SIH will be able to use the same financial resources, after their repayment, for new investments and thus recycle them repeatedly. “In this respect, financial instruments represent a clear advantage over grants which are, in essence, an one-time investment,” concluded Ivan Lesay.

About Slovak Investment Holding

SIH is a joint stock company 100% owned by the state. Its main mission is to support strategic public and private investments in Slovakia in the areas of infrastructure, energy efficiency, waste management, renewable energy sources, the social economy, and small and medium-sized enterprises. SIH financial resources are drawn from the European Structural and Investment Funds. SIH provides financing exclusively through the so-called financial instruments, in the form of loan, guarantee and capital products. SIH does not provide grant, i.e. non-repayable financing.

About the Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank

The Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank supports entrepreneurship in Slovakia in accordance with the economic policy of the state. Its owner and sole shareholder is the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. The bank focuses primarily on the support for small and medium-sized enterprises, agricultural companies, towns, municipalities and the renovation of residential buildings. The banks’s medium-term vision is to provide constant support to small and medium-sized enterprises in the form of loans and guarantees.

About Unicredit Bank

UniCredit Bank is one of the leaders in financing of companies in the Slovak market. It serves all market segments. Its clients are global international companies, multinational and foreign companies, medium-sized enterprises, developers, agribusiness companies, and financial sector companies. The UniCredit Group is, according to its balance sheet, among the largest financial groups in Europe. It operates in 17 countries directly and through its sales offices in 50 markets, has more than 40 million clients, more than 8,500 branches and 147,000 employees.