UniCredit and the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, have signed a new InvestEU guarantee agreement to significantly scale up support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Central and Eastern Europe.

The new 445 million euros guarantee increases and extends the InvestEU uncapped guarantee umbrella launched in 2023, making it one of the EIF’s largest InvestEU transactions. Available until the end of 2027, the facility is expected to unlock up to €890 million in additional financing for SMEs in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.

The expanded facility will focus primarily on sustainability and innovation-driven projects and will continue to offer SMEs improved financing conditions, including more competitive pricing, longer maturities and reduced collateral requirements.

“This transaction demonstrates how InvestEU can be deployed at scale to deliver tangible impact for Europe’s Small and Mid-sized Enterprises,” said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “By significantly expanding our partnership with UniCredit, we are supporting thousands of businesses in Central and Eastern Europe as they invest in sustainability, innovation and digital transformation. The strong utilisation of the previous guarantee confirms both the demand and the effectiveness of this approach, and we are proud to support its further expansion.”

“SMEs in EU CEE employ over 65% of people in the region and deliver more than 55% of the economic value, but some of their ambitions still outpace their access to affordable finance,” highlighted Teodora Petkova, Head of UniCredit for Central and Eastern Europe. ”By extending our InvestEU partnership with EIF, we are increasing lending volumes and providing tangible benefits: better terms, longer horizons, and now access to capital markets through minibonds. This way entrepreneurs with good ideas can invest, innovate and scale faster, with fewer constraints, while boosting CEE regions growth and opportunities.”