Calling all corporate customers

Many lenders active on the local market have financing operations from European funds in their portfolio, with BRD-Groupe Societe Generale, Raiffeisen Bank, UniCredit Tiriac Bank and CEC Bank among them. BRD, for example, has the EUROBRD program for companies that want to access structural funds.

Anda Sebesi

Financing operations from European funds

Through it the lender provides financing facilities, adapted to the specifics of the accessed Operational Program, as well as financial consultancy in order to identify the optimal structure for financing.

“Following the increased absorption of European funds for all operational programs over 2011, we registered an increase in financing demand from the eligible beneficiaries,” says Alina Iosep, manager corporate market, marketing and product management department at BRD-Groupe Societe Generale.

The EUROBRD range of financing products includes: letter of comfort (according to the operational programs requirements) to prove the capacity of the beneficiary to co-finance a project; bank guarantee for the advance paid by the funding institution; EUROBRD Suport credit to cover the gap between the moment when expenses are incurred and when the non-reimbursable funds are cashed; EUROBRD Investitii loan co-financing the private contribution needed to implement the project with post-accession European funds; and an additional loan financing the non-eligible expenses of the project.

Iosep says that the increased interest of existing and potential customers in developing investment projects with European funds and the range of financing options that include products to support the borrower’s current activity during the implementation period of a project are among the factors that have shaped the product portfolio.

“BRD will continue to be significantly interested in this field and will provide complete solutions adapted to specific needs,” says Iosep.

Elsewhere, Adrian Aurelian Raducan, manager in the structural funds department, corporate products and management know-how area in the corporate banking division at Raiffeisen Bank Romania, says that demand for such products is increasing for the bank.

“Plus, customers have taken a pragmatic approach both by adapting their projects to the financial resources that can be attracted from our bank and the chances their business has in their targeted market by trying to gauge it as accurately as possible,” he says. Raducan adds that the introduction of the letter of comfort made the absorption of European funds efficient through the support offered by lenders to the Authority of Management (AM).

“Many of the projects for which letters of comfort were issued in 2010 were selected by the AM in 2011 and so the lender was involved in financing them. Besides, there have been new calls for proposals accompanied by the letters of comfort we issued. If the projects have the chance to be selected by the AM they will be financed next year,” says Raducan.

Financing for SMEs

SMEs are often perceived as the main driving force of an economy. But since the current economic crisis such players have faced several challenges regarding the predictability of both the economy and consumption.

That means that entrepreneurs need to adapt to different and sudden changes like diminishing customer demand and the need to find other markets, to increase their range or even specialize on some products and services for profitability and efficiency reasons.

“2011 was a good period for Banca Transilvania (BT) including in terms of financing SMEs. The lender doubled its volume of loans for SMEs granted last year on 2009,” say representatives of BT. They add that 2011 brought both a simplification and a re-opening of access to credit for companies with a turnover of under EUR 1 million. At present, over 90 percent of the total number of loans approved by BT for the corporate sector are allocated to the SMEs.

“Romanian entrepreneurs are also more optimistic about the development and stabilization of their businesses. The weight of investment credits in the total volume of credits has also increased,” they say. According to BT representatives, SMEs will obtain bank loans more easily if they present realistic business plans for a period of at least one year.

Meanwhile, Dan Emilian Croitoru, deputy executive director of the corporate network and public sector division at BCR, says that the lender will continue to finance SMEs in the near future, and that the volume of financing will depend on the development and evolution of the market. He adds that the bank expects financing for this sector to increase slowly, with a positive effect on the whole Romanian economy.

According to him, financing for construction (especially infrastructure), agriculture, medical services, telecommunication and IT suppliers and renewable energy are significant in the financing portfolio.

“New financing products have been structured lately, adapted to the different fields of activity (like credits for agriculture, pre-financing for exports and products with a long manufacturing cycle) and the immediate needs of SMEs (loans financing current activity, investment projects or VAT associated with these investments, and credits for temporary/seasonal expenses and inventories, factoring, etc),” concludes Croitoru.

anda.sebesi@business-review.ro

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