MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lending Banca Intesa Beograd of Serbia $47m for SMEs, Mid-Caps Adjusting to COVID-19 Pandemic

Recently, the European Investment Bank (EIB), an entity of the EU, extended a credit line of EUR 40 million (USD 47 million) to Banca Intesa Beograd (BIB) in an effort to boost the Serbian economy in response to the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps to support operations, job retention and capital investment. Among the EU guidelines for defining an SME is that it employs more than 10 people and fewer than 250.

Founded in 1991, BIB is a member of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, which is based in Italy and specializes in retail banking, corporate banking and wealth management. Founded in 2007, Intesa Sanpaolo operates in Eastern Europe, Central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It closed its 2020 fiscal year with total assets of EUR 1.0 trillion (USD 1.2 trillion), 19.1 million customers and 4,900 branches. As of December 2020, BIB serves 1.4 million clients via 155 branches in Serbia with total assets of RSD 717 billion (USD 7.2 billion).

EIB, founded in 1958, is “focused on innovation, SMEs, infrastructure and climate,” primarily in EU member states and potential future member states. In addition to funding, the institution assists its clients “in project implementation and the modernisation of public policies [via] technical and financial expertise and advisory services.” As of December 2020, its total assets amounted to EUR 554 billion (USD 675 billion) with disbursements during the previous year totaling EUR 58.3 billion (USD 71 billion).

By Teo Lin-Bianco, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

EIB press release
https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2021-234-team-europe-the-eib-supports-serbian-small-businesses-with-a-eur40-million-loan-signed-with-banca-intesa-beograd

BIB homepage
https://www.bancaintesa.rs

BIB 2020 annual report
https://www.bancaintesa.rs/document/en/publications/BIB/Godi%C5%A1nji-izve%C5%A1taji/Banca_Intesa_godisnji_izvestaj_2020/Banca_Intesa_Annual_Report_2020.pdf

Intesa Sanpaolo homepage
https://group.intesasanpaolo.com

Intesa Sanpaolo 2020 annual report
https://group.intesasanpaolo.com/content/dam/portalgroup/repository-documenti/investor-relations/bilanci-relazioni-en/2020/20210428_Bilanci_2020_DEF_uk.pdf

EIB homepage
https://www.eib.org/

EIB financial report 2020
https://www.eib.org/attachments/general/reports/eib_financial_report_2020_en.pdf

EU definition of SMEs
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en

Previous MicroCapital news on EIB
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-finnvera-to-issue-780m-in-pandemic-relief-loans-in-finland-with-75-guarantee-from-eib/

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