EFSE and Opportunity provide RSD 615 million in loans for micro and small enterprises – Support to development of rural areas

The European Fund for Southeast Europe has become the first international creditor to provide a dinar-denominated loan, in the amount of RSD 615 million, to Opportunity Bank, for support to micro and small enterprises, especially in rural parts of Serbia, it was reported today.

As the press release says, the loan will enable Opportunity Bank to offer financing in local currency to clients in rural areas in Serbia, such as small agricultural producers, who have had limited access to financing so far.

The funds for the dinar loan were provided by the EFSE in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The EBRD issued three-year bonds worth RSD 2.5 billion in December 2016, making this development bank the first international institution to issue bonds in local currency.

The chairman of the Executive Board of Opportunity Bank, Vladimir Vukotic, said that the bank strove to enable access to loans to clients with limited or no access to financial services and that the bank had 65% of loan clients from rural areas of Serbia at the moment.

Christoph Tiskens, EFSE Board Chairman, said that he was proud that the fund had become the first international creditor to provide financing in Serbian currency and that the money would be used to support micro and small agricultural producers and entrepreneurs in rural parts of Serbia.

– The ongoing work to spread financial inclusion in Serbia supports our mandate to promote economic development and prosperity in the regions we serve – Tiskens said.

The EFSE was founded by KfW Development Bank with the financial help of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and the European Commission.