Allianz Bank Bulgaria and the European Investment Fund have signed an agreement to guarantee a portfolio of loans and factoring deals in support of Bulgarian companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The total amount of the guarantee portfolio is EUR 23 million.
The financing is from the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), which was founded by the EU member states as an anti-crisis measure to overcome the difficulties in the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure is implemented by the requirements for the state aid category.
The main objective of the agreement is to support small, medium, and intermediate enterprises (with a staff of up to 500 employees) by facilitating access to finance for investment and current needs. Allianz Bank provides companies with loans with relaxed collateral requirements, as well as discounts on interest rates on loans to micro-enterprises and factoring.
Under the agreement, companies can apply to Allianz Bank for investment and working capital loans, incl. for refinancing of credit obligations, as well as factoring services, representing the amounts paid in advance to the customer against invoices ceded by him under a recourse factoring contract. The amount guaranteed by the EIF is 70% of the amount of each loan/factoring transaction.
The maximum amount of the provided financing may not exceed EUR 2,570,000 or the equivalent in BGN to the borrower and related parties.
The deadline for companies to apply for funding under the program is June 20, 2022.
Source: Bank`s press release from February 02, 2022
