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EBRD and Italy support entrepreneurial growth in Kosovo
€3 million loan enables NBK to onlend finance to MSMEs
Entrepreneurs across Kosovo will have more access to finance to build new or
expand existing businesses with the support of a total €3 million loan from
the EBRD and the Italian government to the New Bank of Kosovo.
The loan will enable NBK to onlend finance to micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (MSMEs). The loan is being provided under the EBRD-Italy Western
Balkans Local Enterprise Facility, consisting of a €20 million EBRD commitment
and €10 million Italian commitment to provide equity and debt financing to
local enterprises in the Western Balkans. Technical assistance will also be
provided to support NBK in its lending activities and to develop tailored
credit skills, increase outreach to MSME clients, and to develop new loan
products. It will also help improve risk management and strategic business
planning.
NBK is also expected shortly to join the EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme,
which supports trade to, from and within the Bank’s 29 countries of
operations. By joining the TFP, NBK will optimise its trade services to its
clients by offering trade finance products without cash collateral and support
cross-border trade with longer tenors. NBK will become the second bank in the
TFP programme in Kosovo, therefore increasing competition in the local market
and providing more opportunities for local SME clients.
Claudio Viezzoli, EBRD Director for the Western Balkans, said this loan is
helping to build a sector which is the main driver of economic growth in
Kosovo. As well as helping the New Bank of Kosovo to finance more
entrepreneurs, the loan is helping to fuel competition among the many
institutions supporting micro and small businesses. This will ultimately
benefit the entrepreneurs, said Mr Viezzoli.
NBK General Manager, Albert Lumezi, said the relationship with the EBRD
confirms the progressive changes of the bank and it gives strong support for
future development. Through the EBRD loan NBK will expand further its product
range with competitive tenors for MSMEs. The Technical Assistance and Trade
Facilitation Programmes will also help increase the bank’s efficiency and
quality of products and services for NBK customers, he said.
The EBRD was one of the first International Financial Institutions to begin
operating in Kosovo following the conflict in 1999 and set up a local office
in Prishtina in 2001 to promote investments and economic growth. To date the
Bank has supported five projects in the financial sector.
The New Bank of Kosovo is the fourth largest bank in Kosovo, operating as a
commercial and savings bank offering products and services to all categories
of customers. With its headquarters in Prishtina, the bank employees 255 staff
members in 7 branches and fifteen offices across Kosovo.
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