EBRD and Société Générale support economies in Serbia

The EBRD is boosting the availability of financing to the real economy sector in Serbia, with a €20 million credit line to Société Générale Serbia for on-lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The credit line is part of a broader financial arrangement provided by the EBRD to Société Générale’s subsidiaries in eastern Europe.
Wholly-owned by the Société Générale Group, Société Générale Serbia is among the top ten banks in the country, servicing corporate, SMEs and retail customers. Further development of its SME portfolio is a priority of Société Générale Serbia.

The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to finance the investments and working capital needs of private businesses operating in Serbia with short, medium and longer term loans of up to €1.5 million.

“The project will ensure a continuous flow of finance to small and medium-sized companies at a time when they face growing difficulties in obtaining funding for their development. In addition, the transaction will provide a confidence boost to the banking sector in Serbia” said Hildegard Gacek, the EBRD’s Director for Serbia.
“Besides permanent strong financial involvement of our own Group, once again, this is another proof that Societe Generale Serbia will not omit any of opportunities to support the local economy and to encourage it. Our current collaboration with the EBRD was always at the highest level and we will continue to count on it in the future as well, ” said Antoine Toussaint, Societe Generale Serbia CEO.

The EBRD investment is part of a joint pledge by the EBRD, the World Bank Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide over €25 billion in support of the banking sectors in the region and to fund lending to businesses hit by the global crisis.

Since the launch of the initiative a year ago the EBRD has made available more than €3.8 billion in new funds for the financial institutions sector in countries of its operation.