OREANDA-NEWS. April 09, 2010. The EBRD loan will enable Banca Sociala to address the growing demand for financing from Moldovan SMEs in the current challenging conditions and to finance investments and working capital of local businesses with medium and longer-term loans. The transaction is supported by technical assistance funds, which will be used to strengthen Banca Sociala’s risk management system.

“The credit line to Banca Sociala will give an additional boost to competition in the Moldovan banking sector, increasing the availability of financing to local enterprises. This project will facilitate SMEs access to the much-needed financing, reinforcing the EBRD’s commitment to support the development of the private sector in Moldova. We are very pleased that Banca Sociala is further reinforcing its longstanding commitment to that very important sector of the economy,” said Francis Malige of the EBRD.

“Since the start of our cooperation with EBRD in 2005, it has provided Banca Sociala credit lines for the total amount of about EUR 19 million. Banca Sociala has been always actively supporting the private businesses in Moldova and especially SME sector. The new credit line will allow us to improve access to longer term funding for this important group of our clients and will hopefully further strengthen our mutually beneficial cooperation with EBRD,” said Vladimir Suetnov, President of Banca Sociala.

Since the beginning of its operations in Moldova, the EBRD has committed close to €350 million across various sectors of the country’s economy, attracting additional investment in excess of €245 million.