€10 million EBRD loan for Raiffeisen Leasing Croatia

To support the expansion of leasing to small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia the EBRD is providing a €10 million loan to Raiffeisen Leasing Croatia under the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility. The financing will be complemented by more than €875,000 from the European Commission for technical assistance, training of SME leasing officers and financial incentives.

This loan is expected to follow the success of the first €10 million credit line provided by the EBRD to Raiffeisen Leasing Croatia in March 2006.
The Croatian leasing market is characterised by strong growth and leasing to SMEs has become a particularly important form of financing as availability of bank financing to micro companies is restricted.

Raiffeisen Leasing Croatia is the third largest leasing company with a market share of 8 per cent. The company has been focusing on car and equipment leasing and will use the second EBRD´s loan to broaden its activities by expanding into eastern Slavonia and the Croatian coast through branches outside the capital.

The EBRD credit line will be exclusively used for the financing of leases to micro and small enterprises with leases not exceeding €30,000 and €125,000 respectively.
Peter Reiniger, EBRD Business Group Director for Central and Eastern Europe, said the loan will contribute to make financing more accessible for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is essential for the development of the local economy. At the same time it will help Raiffeisen Leasing Croatia to enter the smaller and micro segment of SME leasing outside the Croatian capital and diversify its funding base.

Miljenko Tumpa, Chairman of Raiffeisen Leasing Management Board in Croatia, is pleased with the fact that EBRD and EU recognized the quality of Raiffeisen Leasing and that they chose the company as a partner in this programme for the second time. "The cooperation we have had so far was more than successful and it helped us to increase the volume of financing, through which we were able to contribute to a more effective development of the Croatian economy", Mr Tumpa emphasized.
The EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility is a joint programme of the European Commission and the EBRD, supporting the development and growth of entrepreneurs as well as small and medium size companies by facilitating their access to finance. Under this regional programme covering 11 countries, the EBRD has committed EUR 1,166.5 million to date, supported by EUR 154.39 million in grant financing and technical assistance from the EC since the launch of the programme in 1999.

Established in October 1999, Raiffeisen Leasing d.o.o. is equally owned by Raiffeisen-Leasing International GmbH and Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d.. It currently employs 94 people and has branches throughout 9 Croatian cities. Raiffeisen Leasing is amongst the leading leasing companies on the Croatian market and covers all major sectors of the economy. Its portfolio mainly consists of car leasing (passenger and business cars), while in the financing of equipment and boats as well as real estate leasing RL is gaining more market share.