MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $34.6m to Garanti Leasing for On-lending to Micro-, Small Enterprises in Turkey; Banca Intesa Beograd (BIB) for Agriculture in Serbia

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle (MIV), recently extended loans to Garanti Leasing (GL), a leasing subsidiary of Turkey’s Garanti Bank (GB), and Banca Intesa Beograd (BIB), a commercial bank in Serbia that is part of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo.

The loan to GL totals EUR 20 million (USD 23 million) with 50 percent being earmarked for on-lending to micro- and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) in “priority development regions” of Turkey.

Unal Gokmen, the General Manager of Garanti Leasing, stated “With its SME focused strategy and broad customer base throughout the whole country, Garanti Leasing has always been a reliable partner of MSEs and a well-known player in international markets. This loan will contribute to our main strategy of supporting MSEs and strengthen our long-standing relationship with the EFSE.”

The loan to BIB totals EUR 10 million (USD 11.6 million) and is intended to finance agricultural equipment. Since the beginning of its partnership with EFSE, BIB has disbursed approximately EUR 120 million (USD 138 million) in EFSE funding to agricultural producers and small businesses in Serbia.

According to Monika Beck, the Chairperson of the Board of EFSE, “Serbia’s agricultural sector accounts for over 10 percent of the country’s GDP and has been severely hit by floods last spring. Together with our longstanding partner Banca Intesa we aim to make a significant contribution towards addressing the recent challenges. And by securing access to credit for farming and rural businesses, we are providing much-needed support for sustainable growth in this sector.”

Financial data on Garanti Leasing is not available, but GB reports assets of USD 106 billion as of September 2013. As of 2013, Banca Intesa Beograd reports total assets worth RSD 427 billion (USD 3.5 billion). As of June 2013, EFSE had an investment portfolio of EUR 774 million (USD 1 billion).

By Ananya Tiwari, Research Associate

About Banca Intesa Beograd
Banca Intesa Beograd is a commercial bank based in Belgrade, Serbia. Its products include savings; bonds; guarantees; and loans to individuals, farms and small businesses. Banca Intesa Beograd is a member of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, a commercial banking group that has total assets worth the equivalent of USD 724 billion as of 2013. As of 2013, Banca Intesa Beograd reports total assets worth RSD 427 billion (USD 3.5 billion). Banca Intesa does not report financial data to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).

About Garanti Leasing (GL)
Operating in the leasing sector since 1990, Garanti Leasing (GL) is a subsidiary of Turkey-based Garanti Bank (GB). GL serves corporate, commercial and small and medium-sized enterprises by financing their product and equipment investments, including vehicles, equipment for construction and manufacturing, agricultural machinery, textile machinery and printing presses as well as real estate investments. Financial data on Garanti Leasing is not available, but GB reports assets of USD 106 billion as of September 2013.

[1] EFSE Press Release,http://www.efse.lu/media/pdfs/press-releases/2014/2014-12-efse-and-garanti-leasing-expand-partnership-to-finance-rural-loans-in-turkey.pdf

[2] Banca Intesa Press Release, http://www.bancaintesa.rs/code/navigate.aspx?Id=373&vestId=756

[3] Information provided by EFSE to MicroCapital, January 2015

MicroCapital, January 5, 2015, European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $600k to Macedonian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Horizonti to On-Lend to Small-Scale Farmers, Rural Microentrepreneurs, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-european-fund-for-southeast-europe-efse-loans-600k-to-macedonian-microfinance-institution-mfi-horizonti-to-on-lend-to-small-scale-farmers-rural-microentrepreneurs/

MicroCapital, January 4, 2015, European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $30m to Finansbank of Turkey to Support Micro-, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-european-fund-for-southeast-europe-efse-loans-30m-to-finansbank-of-turkey-to-support-micro-small-medium-sized-enterprises-msmes/

MicroCapital, October 31, 2013, European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $31m to Komercijalna banka Beograd of Serbia, Microfinance Institution Patria Credit of Romania, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-european-fund-for-southeast-europe-efse-loans-31m-to-komercijalna-banka-beograd-of-serbia-microfinance-institution-patria-credit-of-romania/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=European+Fund+for+Southeast+Europe+%28EFSE%29

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Banca Intesa Beograd
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Banca+Intesa

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Garanti Leasing (GL)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Garanti+Leasing#Garanti_Leasing

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Garanti Bank (GB)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=garanti+bank

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/

 

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