The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to provide a loan of up to €40mn to Raffeisen Factoring, to be extended to Croatian SMEs and corporates.

The deal will increase the availability of finance to Croatian companies in the form of factoring, supporting economic growth in the country.

Vedrana Jelušić Kašić, EBRD director for Croatia, says: “We are pleased to expand and deepen our co-operation with Raiffeisen Factoring… The need for funding is particularly acute in less developed areas of Croatia and we are very happy that addressing this issue will represent a special focus of activities under the new EBRD loan.”

Igor Fišer, president of the board of Raiffeisen Factoring, adds: “For 15 years Raiffeisen has been working closely with local and international development institutions with whom we share the same goals. The new credit line is a successful continuation of our co-operation with the EBRD, emphasising the import co-operation between commercial and development banks. Raiffeisen Factoring will allocate the new funds to small and medium-sized enterprises which are the drivers of increased competitiveness and growth.”

The EBRD has supported the company with two previous loans totalling €30mn. Then bank has also invested about €3.2bn in over 170 projects in Croatia to date.