Albanian Retailer Euromax Gets 8.0 Mln Euro EBRD Loan to Finance Expansion

TIRANA, Aug. 4 – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lent eight million euro ($10.3 million) to private Albanian retailer Euromax to back its expansion plans, the EBRD said on Friday. “The loan will shortly be followed by an equity investment. The combined financing package will help the company strengthen its financial resources and build five new large supermarkets in Albania’s main cities,” the EBRD said in a statement. The EBRD loan comes to support a larger project of Euromax worth 23 million euro for the construction of overall 12 outlets in the country by 2008, said Euromax owner Saimir Mane. “We are close to completing the negotiations with Raiffeisen for the rest of the money,” Mane said. “We plan to build 12 outlets – seven supermarkets and five hypermarkets,” Mane said. The supermarkets will be built in the capital Tirana and in Durres, the country’s largest port town, while the hypermarkets will be located in Shkoder, Vlore, Fier, Durres and Elbasan, he added. Euromax opened its first hypermarket in the Univers Trade Centre on the key Tirana-Durres highway.
Univers Trade Centre is the country’s first-ever trade centre and is run by Mane’s retail company MANE TCI. The hypermarket has a total area of 4,000 square meters and offers more than 20,000 products. EBRD is among the largest foreign investors in Albania, having committed more than 314.7 million euro in 24 projects.