TIRANA, July 9- Starting October 1 this year, Alpha Bank Albania will grant loans to Albanian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with limited available collateral This comes under a 25 million euros agreement signed between the European Investment Fund (EIF) and Alpha Bank Albania for the financing of Albanian (SMEs), as part of the EU’s COSME Loan Guarantee Facility programme that supports SMEs’ access to financing. This is the first COSME programme agreement to be signed in Albania. It is expected that approximately 200 businesses will benefit from new financing, with reduced collateral requirements, at more favourable conditions.
Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elмbieta BieŠ„kowska said that SMEs need better access to finance in order to create jobs, growth and turn their ideas into concrete projects. “Albania is now the 32nd country where small and medium companies can have access to debt finance guaranteed by the EU and I am very happy to see that more than 200 Albanian companies will now benefit from better access to finance thanks to the EU,” said BieŠ„kowska. She added that COSME loan guarantees provide over 25 billion euros of financing to more than 450 thousand European SMEs.
Pier Luigi Gilibert who is EIF Chief Executive, added that EIF is delighted to be signing the first COSME guarantee agreement in Albania. He also said that supporting small businesses and creating jobs lies at the heart of EIF’s strategy and the Fund is confident that this new transaction will contribute to driving growth in Albania. The EIF is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s SMEs by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinances instruments, which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.
COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020 with a total budget of 2.3 billion euros. At least 60 percent of the programme will be devoted to easing access to finance for SMEs in Europe, with two financial instruments. The COSME Loan Guarantee Facility supports guarantees and counter-guarantees to financial institutions to help them provide more loans and lease finance to SMEs. This facility also includes securitisation of SME debt finance portfolios.
Georgios Papanastasiou who is Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Bank Albania, said that the signing of the agreement between the EIF and Alpha Bank Albania reflects a genuine partnership in the interest of enhancing financial stability for SMEs across all business sectors in Albania. Alpha Bank will make the first transaction in the country under COSME, and they will be putting the Bank’s nationwide infrastructure to the disposal of SMEs, so the opportunity is seized, and financing with favourable financial terms and reduced collateral requirements is accessed. “We strongly believe that this EU financial instrument will help accelerate the development of SMEs in terms of formalisation, competitiveness and economic growth,” said Papanastasiou.