A number of 123 small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova obtained loans totaling €28 million, benefitting from a 70% guarantee provided by the European Union through the agency of the EIB Group, IPN reports.
For Pentru Damiagro SRL, which has grown wheat, corn and sunflower during over 16 years, the necessity of investing in equipment was essential for increasing production capacities. “We raised several loans for purchasing agricultural machinery and tools. This helps us to use modern soil cultivation technology and to therefore obtain products of a higher quality and to be more competitive on the market,” the enterprise’s accountant Mihaela Belitei stated, being quoted in a press release issued by the PR agency Profile. Through the agency of the EIB Group, the family business enjoyed better lending conditions. The enterprise secured 30% of the loan, while the other 70% were guaranteed with European funds.
Loan guarantees were also offered to Djofra-M SRL, which makes glass fiber netting. The enterprise works with different raw material suppliers, but only 30% of the needs can be satisfied with domestic material, while the rest of the raw material is imported. The enterprise’s representative Natalia Groian said they needed to get a loan for paying in advance and reserving raw material so as not to cease operations due to the crisis of raw material. This way, they kept the 160 jobs and intend to create another 20 jobs by the end of this year as they plan to diversify production.
In 2017, the EIB Group signed the first guarantee agreements with ProCredit Holding and its subsidiaries in order to support €100 million of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine under the EU4Business initiative.
