site.bta Economy Minister Loukarski Signs Agreement with European Institutions on OP Initiative for SMEs

Economy Minister Loukarski Signs Agreement with European Institutions on OP Initiative for SMEs

Sofia, March 2 (BTA) - Economy Minister Bozhidar Loukarski Wednesday signed an agreement with the European Commission, the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank on Operational Programme (OP) Initiative for Small and Medium Enterprises 2014-2020.
 
The OP  is aimed at improving the conditions for extending loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the use of financial instruments. Bulgaria is the third EU Member State after Spain and Malta to provide resources for SMEs through such instruments. The new OP's budget amounts to 102 million euro.

The agreement was signed at the Council of Ministers in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds and Economic Policy Tomislav Donchev, the Director-General  of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, Walter Deffaa, European Investment Fund Chief Executive Pier Luigi Gilivert, and the Director of the European Investment Bank's Central and South Eastern Europe Directorate, Flavia Palanza. 

After the ceremony, Loukarski said that the agreement is aimed at achieving bigger economic growth in Bulgaria. "This is yet another step in this direction and I hope that we will help entrepreneurs find funding at a relatively low price," he added. "We expect the multiplication effect of the money included in the OP to be six-fold, i.e. over 600 million euro to be used by the business as a credit. I expect SMEs to have access to this capital in early autumn," he said.

Donchev said that economic growth requires a workforce, markets and enterprise on the part of the business, as well as money. "This is why we began and concluded the negotiations on this OP," he added. In his words, this is not the typical grant funding but schemes in which money goes round. The difference from bank loans lies in the easier conditions for receiving funding and the lower interest rates for companies, he noted. "In 2016 alone, through various programmes we will be able to withdraw one billion leva of funding for the companies. Afterwards, finding money for projects will no longer be an issue and having good business ideas will be important," Donchev said.