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EBRD supports expansion of Croatian retailer Getro
Nine new stores planned until 2007
Building on the success of two years of cooperation, the EBRD is lending up to
€35 million to Croatian supermarket retailer Getro d.d., of which €15 million
will be syndicated to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB). The loan
will help finance the completion of Getro’s expansion in Croatia.
The company plans to open a further nine stores in Croatia between now and
2007, on top of its existing 15. Getro is also exploring the possibility of
expansion into the neighbouring markets of Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia
and Herzegovina. The EBRD strongly supports cross-border economic activity in
the region.
Hans Christian Jacobsen, EBRD Director for Agribusiness, said Getro's
confident expansion will not only deepen competition in the food retailing
sector, and thus ultimately benefit costumers, but also mobilise outside
capital and demonstrate the enormous potential of the market to other
investors. Modern distribution and retail help improve price transparency,
competition and quality standards throughout the food chain.
Vjekoslav Gucic, President of Getro, said: “The EBRD is again playing an
important role in Getro’s financial development at a crucial moment for the
company. This loan will help us develop and further improve our domestic
market position in a sector where there is strong competition from
international retail chains.”
Getro was founded in 1994 and remains a family-owned company, with the EBRD
holding a minority stake since 2002. The company is well prepared to withstand
the fierce competition on the Croatian retail market and ranks second in total
retail sales with a market share of 7.3 per cent.
Across its 27 countries of operations, the EBRD has signed 218 projects in the
agribusiness sector totalling more than €3.25 billion. In Croatia, the Bank’s
commitments stand at €1.3 billion through 42 different projects.
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