News
Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria and the Council of Europe Development Bank expand funding for SMEs in Bulgaria
11 August 2011
- EUR 20 million for lease financing of SMEs
- Loan agreement to support creation and preservation of SME jobs
Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria OOD and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) signed a EUR 20 million Framework Loan Agreement for financing leasing transactions by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria.
The loan will be used by Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria to provide leases to local companies to finance the purchase of equipment and machinery, medical instruments, IT devices, retail, storage and factory equipment, specialized production lines, construction machinery and trucks.
The aim of the CEB financing is to create and preserve jobs in SMEs and to reinforce the development of the SME sector in Bulgaria.
“We are pleased to continue our cooperation with CEB, started in 2006. Thanks to this facility, we will further support the revival of Bulgarian leasing market by providing local small and medium-sized businesses with favourable financing conditions,” said Dobromir Dobrev, CEO of Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria.
Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, an indirectly owned subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), is one of the leading players on the Bulgarian leasing market, with a marked share amounting to 7.60% as of the end of March 2011. The current loan is the CEB’s second financing deal with Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, and the fourth with a member of Raiffeisen Group Bulgaria, bringing the total loan amount extended by CEB to Raiffeisen in Bulgaria to EUR 70 million.
Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria OOD (www.rlbg.bg) is a universal leasing company that offers its services through the branch network of Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD. Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria is owned by Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD (24.5 per cent) and Raiffeisen-Leasing International GmbH (75.5 per cent). Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria owns 100 per cent of the shares of Raiffeisen Auto Leasing Bulgaria EOOD. Raiffeisen-Leasing International GmbH is 25 per cent owned by Raiffeisen Leasing GmbH and 75 per cent owned by Raiffeisen Bank International AG, which is also the sole shareholder of Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD.