HBOR Receives 250 Million Euros from the European Investment Bank

In order to navigate the crisis period as painlessly as possible and to financially assist the most vulnerable companies, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises, the European Investment Bank has approved two loans to the Croatian Development Bank, HBOR.

250 million euros is allocated for small and medium-sized enterprises, public sector infrastructure projects, and medium-capitalized companies. An additional 34 million euros is a loan for financing the construction of the production facility of Dina Petrokemija. The contracts for both loans were signed by Anton Kovačev, CEO of HBOR, and Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen, Vice President of the European Investment Bank. Although domestic commercial banks have released two billion kuna to HBOR to enable it to finance companies under model A, HBOR continuously obtains favorable financial resources from special financial institutions such as the EIB. – By increasing the availability of credit resources at favorable interest rates, HBOR directly impacts the strengthening of the economic position of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, for whose needs it approved 3 billion kuna in 2009 – stated Kovačev.

The cooperation between the two banks dates back to 2001 when the Global Loan I was signed, and continued in 2007 when the first part of the Global Loan II was signed for financing small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure, tourism, and industry in the amount of 40 million euros.  In 2008, the second part of that loan (60 million euros) financed 106 projects. – The new investment cycles that will be financed with the funds from the contracts signed today will certainly contribute to a faster recovery of the Croatian economy – hopes Kovačev. By the way, this bank has invested 1.9 billion euros in various projects in Croatia over the past decade. At the beginning of the decade, the EIB logically focused on the construction and rehabilitation of our infrastructure, especially transport, for which 64 percent of the total funds approved by the EIB for Croatia were spent. Last year, due to the remediation of the consequences of the crisis, the amount of loans from this bank reached a record amount in Croatia – 416 million euros, two and a half times more than in 2008. (Gordana Gelenčer)