MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD, EU Launch Support for SMEs in Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania

The UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the EU recently announced the launch of a program under Horizon 2020, a research and innovation effort of the EU. The new program’s budget of EUR 20 million (USD 22.5 million) is expected to reach 200 enterprises in Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania. Elements of the program are limited to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are defined as having fewer than 250 employees and annual turnover of less than EUR 50 million (USD 57 million), while others are also open to mid-caps, which are defined as having fewer than 3,000 employees.

The program has three components: 1) “the provision of financing, advisory services and training” to SMEs in Bulgaria and Romania; 2) “EBRD credit lines extended to financial institutions [to] be on-lent to SMEs and small mid-caps investing in innovation” in Romania; and 3) “green innovation support via technical assistance and co-financing grants for projects with SMEs and mid-caps…directly financed by the EBRD” in Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania.

These countries were selected for the program based on their low levels of innovation according to the EU’s Innovation Scoreboard, a system that “assesses innovation capacities and outcomes.”

EBRD was founded in 1991 and has 67 shareholding countries – plus the EU – as of 2019. With a focus on “the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative,” it invested EUR 9.5 billion (USD 10.9 billion) during 2018 in 395 projects worldwide.

By Jolene Khor, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

EBRD news: “EBRD and EU supporting innovative businesses in Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania”
https://www.ebrd.com/news/2019/ebrd-and-eu-supporting-innovative-businesses-in-bulgaria-latvia-and-romania.html

EU’s Horizon 2020 homepage
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/

EBRD homepage
https://www.ebrd.com/home

EBRD 2018 Annual Review
https://2018.ar-ebrd.com/

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