The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to lend EUR 50m to finance projects implemented by small and medium-sized companies and mid-cap businesses in Slovenia in cooperation with the SKB bank, the STA reported January 31, 2018.
According to a press release from the EIB, a portion of the loans will be allocated under the Jobs for Youth Initiative to SMEs and mid-caps employing people under the age of 30.
The funds will co-finance the projects of companies offering vocational training, internships or training programmes for young people, or that have a cooperation agreement with technical colleges, schools or universities.
The EU bank plans to seek more transactions of this kind to strengthen its cooperation with commercial banks in Slovenia to maximise the outreach to SMEs in the country.
The current transaction is a continuation of the EIB's cooperation with the French-owned banking group SKB. As financial intermediary, SKB has so far received four EIB loans amounting to EUR 250m, to improve the access of Slovenian SMEs and mid-caps to long-lerm loans provided under favourable terms.
Since the first partnership between the EIB and SKB Group was signed in 2009, 77% of the funds were used to finance projects of SMEs with fewer than 250 employees, 19% for mid-cap companies with between 250 and 3,000 employees, and 4% for energy efficiency and environmental protection projects in the public sector.
