Patria Credit, a non-banking financial institution in Romania, recently borrowed RON 12 million (USD 2.7 million) from the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a Luxembourg-based microfinance investment vehicle. Christoph Tiskens, the Board Chair of EFSE, said of the deal, “EFSE and Patria Credit have a long-standing relationship of nearly 13 years. We are pleased to be working together to support economic development and promote responsible finance in rural areas. With this top-up facility, we aim to continue providing access to finance unhedged agricultural producers, farmers and rural entrepreneurs.”
Patria Credit was founded as Capa Finance in 1998. It provides financial services to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs), including agricultural producers, through 81 offices in Romania. As of 2018, Patria Credit reported total assets of RON 3.4 billion (USD 791 million), return on assets of -0.01 percent and return on equity of -0.10 percent. The institution does not accept deposits. The shareholders of Patria Credit include the Romanian-American Investment Foundation and the Balkan Accession Fund.
EFSE provides “long-term” funding for MSEs as well as households via partner retail institutions. EFSE also operates the EFSE Development Facility, which provides technical assistance, consulting and training services to support capacity building within these institutions. EFSE was established in 2005 by German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (which is also known by its German acronym BMZ) and the EU’s European Commission. The fund is privately managed, with Oppenheim Asset Management Services of Luxembourg acting as fund manager and Finance in Motion GmbH of Germany acting as fund advisor. EFSE operates in 16 countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. As of 2019, the fund reports outstanding investments of EUR 957 million (USD 1 billion) in its 63 partner lenders, including 35 microfinance institutions. As of December 2019, EFSE holds a microfinance label from Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), an NGO that certifies that social investment vehicles actually invest as advertised.
Sources and Additional Resources
Patria Credit homepage
https://www.patriacredit.ro/
Patria Credit 2018 annual report
https://en.patriabank.ro/d/1056/2018-annual-report.pdf
EFSE homepage
https://www.efse.lu/
EFSE financial report
https://www.efse.lu/studies-publications/publications/detail/development-performance-q3-2019/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EFSE Loans $33m to Erste Bank Montenegro for Housing Microfinance
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-efse-loans-33m-to-erste-bank-montenegro-for-housing-microfinance/
Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Similar Posts:
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Climate Risk and Financial Inclusion: A Regulatory Perspective on Risks and Opportunities;” by Peter Knaack, Peter Zetterli
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agricover Credit Raises $9m for Agricultural SMEs in Romania via Symbiotics Bond Issue
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas (ACA) Borrows $80m from FMO, FinDev Canada, Rabobank to Boost Exports of Produce from 50,000 Farms in Argentina
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion, Sturgeon Lead $6.4m Equity Round for Trukkr, Fintech Serving Trucking SMEs in Pakistan
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Lending $22m to Sahanala to Boost Sustainable Fisheries, Agricultural Value Chains, Mechanization of Farms in Madagascar
