EBRD to provide EUR 100 million for young entrepreneurs of Western Balkans

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced today that it would provide EUR 100 million to financial institutions in the six economies of the Western Balkans to support youth entrepreneurship.

The EBRD held a conference in Herceg Novi, where it gathered partner banks, donors, ecosystem partners and other interested parties in order to boost the support to micro, small and medium enterprises in the Western Balkans which are either owned or run by young entrepreneurs up to 35 years of age, the Bank says in its press release.

The conference was organized within the EBRD’s Youth in Business program, which is supported by the European Union, Sweden, Luxembourg and Italy through the Central European Initiative.

As of today, EUR 30 million is available through credit lines for the crediting of young entrepreneurs, with an additional EUR 17 million in financing which will be extended in the next several months. So far, over 1,700 credits have been paid, in the total amount of EUR 19.3 million, the EBRD says in the press release.