Ceska Sporitelna has obtained another EUR 100 mil. from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for financing and supporting the Czech economy. The money is intended primarily for projects of small and medium-sized enterprises, but public sector representatives can also take advantage of them. Overall, Ceska Sporitelna has received more than EUR 950 mil. from EIB since 2002, making it EIB’s most important banking partner in the Czech Republic and in all of Central Europe. The Bank has allocated all of the obtained funds in client loans.
“Thanks to our partnership of some ten years with the European Investment Bank, we are able to offer Czech enterprises long-term loans with interesting preferential interest rates, thereby not only contributing to their development but also to the development of the entire Czech economy. In spite of the adverse economic influences in recent years, we have never restricted the financing of Czech companies or our cooperation with EIB, and it was again confirmed that we stand behind our clients firmly, not only in good times but also in bad,” said Petr Witowski, Director of the Corporate Client Division of Ceska Sporitelna.
Ceska Sporitelna is authorised to provide preferential loans to those companies that comply with the acceptability conditions set by EIB. The criteria include company size and structure (a company with a maximum of 250 employees, maximum annual turnover of up to EUR 50 mil., and ownership structure compliant with the EIB conditions, etc.). In addition, the maximum duration of project implementation is limited (no more than 3 years) and its repayment date (up to 15 years), and the project costs should range between EUR 40,000 and 25 mil. Ceska Sporitelna has offered the preferential loan since 1 October 2012 under the name “Global Loan”.
EIB provides funds to banks in the form of preferential loans with an eight to twelve-year repayment term. Ceska Sporitelna then identifies suitable companies to which it offers the preferential loan or decreases the interest on their existing loan. The allocation of funds is a relatively demanding administrative process that requires banks to monitor the financial situation of companies continuously and provide thorough reporting to EIB. Should a bank not manage to allocate the funds within the set period, the unallocated amount is returned to EIB. Ceska Sporitelna has always allocated all of the funds obtained.