Maib will receive €94 million from EIB Global and the European Commission to improve SMEs' access to finance and stimulate green investment.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Global, during the conference “EU-Moldova and private sector investment”, which took place on April 10 in Chisinau, announced the signing of two agreements with maib. In particular, EIB Global will provide maib with a €50 million loan and will also provide a partial portfolio guarantee, supported by the European Commission, which will enable maib to provide a further €44 million to SMEs. According to the EIB press service, the €50 million loan from the European Investment Bank to maib will improve access to finance and stimulate environmental investment. At least 10% of the total loan amount will be earmarked for environmental projects. This will contribute to climate action and environmental sustainability. Moldovan SMEs and mid-cap enterprises will receive loans on attractive terms, with a long term, favorable interest rates and the opportunity to choose the monetary value of the loan - both in foreign currency and in Moldovan lei. At the same time, the signing of the portfolio partial guarantee, which is supported by the European Union's European Sustainable Development Fund, allows EIB Global to complement and strengthen its offer of financial support to the private sector in Moldova, while the risk-sharing measure will attract an additional €44 million in loans to SMEs. Through this financing package, maib will provide loans on favorable terms to SMEs and mid-cap enterprises, thereby expanding access to finance and increasing the potential for job creation and economic growth. EIB Global is a specialized division of the EIB Group dedicated to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance outside the EU. The institution has been present in Moldova since 2007. During this time, the EIB has allocated €1.29 billion to projects supporting EU policy objectives in a number of sectors: transport, energy, SMEs, agriculture and municipal infrastructure. The EIB works with Moldova under the European Neighborhood Policy and has recently stepped up support to assist the country in its EU accession process. In 2023, the EIB signed €120 million in loans to support projects in both the public and private sectors. Maib is the largest bank in Moldova, accounting for about 34.3% of deposits and 37.4% of loans issued by the banking system as a whole in the second half of 2023. It is a capitalized bank - its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) reached 24.2% at the end of 2023. Maib serves almost 30% of the country's population, and the bank's staff exceeds 2.4 thousand people. Since 2018, maib's largest shareholders are a consortium of investors including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL (a leading asset management group in the Baltics) and Horizon Capital (a private investment fund focused on emerging markets). // 10.04.2024 - InfoMarket.
