The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Bank Polska Kasa Opieki (Bank Pekao) have signed a COSME agreement that will allow the bank to provide 1.2 billion zlotys (around 285 million euros) in loans to small and medium-sized Polish businesses.
The agreement will allow Bank Pekao to provide SMEs with investment and operational loans with lower down-payment requirements and to support SMEs and start-ups which have limited access to lending. Around 1500 Polish SMEs are expected to benefit from these loans.
This agreement is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, the Juncker Plan.
EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, said: “This announcement is very good news for start-ups and other small businesses in Poland wishing to scale up. Thanks to EU support, around 1500 Polish SMEs who have struggled to access finance until now will have a new opportunity. This is yet another good example of the Juncker Plan at work.”
EIF Deputy Chief Executive, Roger Havenith said: “EIF support via the Investment Plan for Europe continues to deliver a wide range of financing options for Polish SMEs and we are pleased to be announcing this new agreement with Bank Pekao. The guarantee will help Bank Pekao to provide enhanced access to finance to currently essentially excluded risky SMEs and start-ups – in line with our strategy to support entrepreneurship, jobs and growth.”
The current agreement is the largest direct guarantee EIF transaction with a Polish intermediary within the EU Programmes. “I would like to congratulate EIF and Bank Pekao for signing of the agreement for benefit of Polish entrepreneurs. Polish government supports implementation of the COSME Programme, which actions are in line with our Strategy for Responsible Development,” added Jadwiga Emilewicz, minister of entrepreneurship and technology.
Tomasz Styczyński, vice president of the management board supervising the SME Banking Division of Bank Pekao, said: “Bank Pekao has been a reliable and highly valued partner of the European Union institutions for many years. The current COSME contract is the fifth contract concluded by the bank with the European Investment Fund, under the financial instruments of EU programs for 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. The total value of these contracts is nearly 3.8 billion zloty. As part of the current, largest portfolio, we will offer preferential financing for 1500 Polish micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.”
