Eximbank, a privately-owned bank in Moldova, is receiving a €20 million EBRD credit to provide private small and medium-sized companies with medium to long-term loans to finance the modernisation and expansion of their businesses.
The Eximbank credit is the first under a new €70 million EBRD framework facility that aims to provide local banks with a full range of financial products including SME credit-lines, consumer, mortgage, leasing finance, energy efficiency credit lines and syndicated loans in Moldova.
Established in 1994 Eximbank is a universal bank providing full range of banking products and services and ranked fifth on the Moldovan market.
It is owned by Gruppo Veneto Banca from Italy and aims to become one of the leading universal banks in Moldova by increasing its market share, mainly in the SME and private corporate sector, and further developing international trade transactions. It has 15 branches and 34 representative offices in Moldova. Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, EBRD Director for Bank Relationships, said the loan will boost competition in the banking sector while benefiting private corporate borrowers, mostly in the SME sector. It is important to support investment in this dynamic segment of the private sector, which plays a crucial role in the transition process. The EBRD is one of the leading institutions which provide medium and long-term funding in Moldova.
The EBRD loan will help Eximbank strengthen its position in Moldova, where there is little access to funds for long-term lending from other commercial sources, said Marcel Chirca, CEO of Eximbank. The facility will also enable Eximbank to continue building a private enterprise loan portfolio, including SMEs, while diversifying its funding base and it will help the bank build a sustainable growth path.
The EBRD Framework facility will also be supported by technical assistance of up to EUR 700,000 made available by the ETC Multi-Donor Fund. The funds will be used to assist transactions on a case-by-case basis to train staff and strengthen the skills of partner institutions with respect to mortgage financing, leasing, energy efficiency credit lines and insurance.
To date, the EBRD has signed around 60 projects in Moldova, investing more than €244 million. The country is part of the EBRD’s Early Transition Countries Initiative, launched in 2004, which aims to stimulate market activity in the Bank’s lowest-income countries of operations by using a streamlined approach to financing more and smaller projects, mobilising more investment, and encouraging economic reform.
