WB EDIF Guarantee Facility – New Funding Opportunities

WB EDIF Guarantee Facility – New Funding Opportunities

16-03-2018

A dedicated window under the WB EDIF Guarantee Facility is now open focusing on SMEs in Serbia. Eligible Financial Intermediaries can apply by 31 December 2019. An additional window dedicated to youth employment is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2018. The total EU contribution to the Guarantee Facility will thus reach €69.4 million.  

The Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF), funded by the EU, aims at improving access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Western Balkans. It has four main components, out of which one is the Guarantee Facility.

The Guarantee Facility provides capped guarantees to selected financial intermediaries which in turn create portfolios of loans to SMEs operating in the Western Balkans. The credit conditions are more advantageous than those on the current market. The EU initially funded the Guarantee Facility with €21.9 million in 2013 and topped it up with a further €17.5 million in 2015. The EU grant has been instrumental in mobilising €224.9 million in loans to 2,061 SMEs throughout the Western Balkans, including Croatia.

The Guarantee Facility is managed by the European Investment Fund.

WB EDIF Guarantee Facility – Serbia Window (WB EDIF GF Serbia)

Following the success of the initial implementation of the Guarantee Facility, a dedicated window is now open focusing on SMEs in Serbia. Eligible Financial Intermediaries can apply by downloading the application documents provided here. The deadline for applications is 31 December 2019.

WB EDIF GF Serbia Western Balkans Enterprise Development & will provide guarantees to eligible financial intermediaries established and operating in Serbia to encourage them to build up new portfolios of SME transactions at favourable conditions and thereby improving Access to SMEs in Serbia. The Window is supported by a €20 million EU grant under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) II.

Further to the Guarantee Facility for Serbia, a new €10 million window to support youth employment in the Western Balkans,  financed by the European Commission, is expected to be launched by the end of 2018. This window of the Guarantee Facility will seek to respond to the issue of the high unemployment rate, particularly among the youth, in the region.

The total EU contribution to the Guarantee Facility will thus reach €69.4 million.