BSTDB increases SME financing in Bulgaria

News | 28-Jul-2008

BSTDB provided a medium-term Micro and SME Loan Facility to Procredit Bank Bulgaria for the amount of € 14.5 million.

The loan facility carries a tenor of three years and intends to finance sub-loans offered by Procredit Bank to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Bulgaria and will accommodate their growing needs for business development.

The borrower already has a successful credit history with BSTDB – the first SME credit line for the amount of € 6 million was granted by BSTDB in February 2003 and has been increased gradually since then. With the new increase of the credit line, the total BSTDB financing available to ProCredit Bank Bulgaria for financing micro, small and medium enterprises has reached € 18 million.

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ProCredit Bank Bulgaria (PCB) was established in 2001 and received a full banking license from the National Bank of Bulgaria. PCB is owned by ProCredit Holding (established by, among others, IFC, KfW (Germany) and FMO (The Netherlands) and Commerzbank (Germany). It aims at supporting the development of the private SMEs in Bulgaria, by improving their access to finance.
Procredit Bank Bulgaria is part of the worldwide network of 21 ProCredit banks established by ProCredit Holding and its partners in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.
PCB is rated long term BB+ with stable outlook by Fitch.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Türkiye, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters is in Thessaloniki, Greece. BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries. The recently increased authorized capital of the Bank is SDR 3 billion (approx. USD 4,85 billion). BSTDB is rated Long Term Baa1 with positive outlook and Short Term P2 by Moody’s.