The EBRD is lending 50 million Euro to UniCredit Leasing Corporation to support lessees from Romania’s micro, small and medium businesses (MSMEs).

The credit line will help expand lease financing to private businesses in Romania, encouraging them to invest in high performance standards, technologies and services, enabling them to become more competitive and energy efficient, EBRD says.

This loan lies within the EBRD’s Financial Intermediary Framework. Through bank loans, SME lending programmes, equity investments and support for other financial services such as insurance and leasing, the EBRD engages with various providers of financial services, known as financial intermediaries, to develop the financial sectors in its regions and to foster entrepreneurship.

UniCredit Leasing Corporation IFN S.A., owned by UniCredit Bank Romania S.A. and UniCredit Consumer Financing IFN S.A is the largest leasing company operating in Romania.

The EBRD’s focus in Romania is on financing infrastructure, especially in the regions, boosting private sector productivity and further developing the financial sector and capital markets. To date, the EBRD has financed 497 projects in Romania for a total of more than 10 billion Euro.