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Financing programmes

EUR 100 million financing programme for SMEs in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania

Through an agreement between  the European Investment Bank and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), the two development banks  are jointly supporting small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and small projects carried out by enterprises having less than 3 000 employees (MidCaps) in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania  by providing access to an invaluable source of lower cost finance and flexible repayment schedules. 

  • What is the funding?

    The loans to SMEs and MidCaps can be used to finance a variety of investments up to a maximum project cost of EUR 50 million. The term of the loan will depend on the economic and technical parameters of the project, but cannot be less than 2 years. 

  • Who can apply for the loan?

    • Independent SMEs with less than 250 employees prior to investment based in one of the 27 EU Member States; 
    • Independent MidCaps with less than 3 000 employees prior to investment based in one of the 27 EU Member States;
    • all economic sectors are eligible with few exceptions, amongst which production of weapons and ammunition, arms, military or police equipment or infrastructures, and equipment or infrastructure limiting people’s individual rights and freedom, gambling, tobacco related industries, activities involving testing on animals insofar as not in compliance with the “Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes” or whose environmental impact cannot be mitigated or offset, ethically or morally controversial sectors such as human cloning and pure property speculation.

  • What can the loan be used for?

    The loan can be used to finance all investments and expenditures that are incurred in the development of an SME or a MidCap i.e.:

    • Tangible investments: purchases of plant and equipment, with some exceptions concerning land purchases.  
    • Intangible investments: particularly the expenditure involved in R&D, building up or taking over distribution networks in domestic or other markets within the EU, taking out or buying patents, buying out a company in order to safeguard economic activity (for a buy-out cost of nor more than EUR 1 million).  
    • Medium and long-term working capital requirements to re-establish businesses’ general liquidity ratio.

  • What are the benefits for your Business?

    • You can receive beneficial interest rates compared to standard business lending rates. 
    • You can negotiate the term or repayment frequency of the loan to suit the circumstances and cash-flow requirements of your business. 
    • It allows you to invest significantly in your business without adversely affecting your cash-flow or liquidity. 

The loans provided under the joint EIB-BSTDB SME Programme are channelled through BSTDB.  Therefore, BSTDB will examine all loan applications and decide whether or not to grant the loan. 

You shall agree that (a) upon reasonable notice you will permit representatives of the EIB and/or BSTDB to inspect all sites, installations and works that comprise the project which is the subject of the loan; and (b) following a request by the EIB, BSTDB may share with EIB   the information provided by you in the framework of your loan application. 

Eligible SMEs and MidCaps from Bulgaria, Greece and Romania are invited to contact the following BSTDB departments by sector to discuss their projects, make loan applications and provide the required information: 

General industries, transport, tourism and agriculture 
Greece: Leonid Sidorenko, tel. +30 2310 290559, lsidorenko@bstdb.org
Bulgaria and Romania: Orhan Aytemiz, tel.+30 2310 290439, oaytemiz@bstdb.org
 
Energy and Infrastructure 
Bulgaria, Greece, Romania: Roman Matkiwsky, tel. +30 2310 290441, ei@bstdb.org