Investment Plan for Europe supports businesses in Romania affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

• First cooperation unlocks €370 million private sector financing
• SMEs across Romania benefit from cheaper leasing finance
• Initiative increases financing for agriculture and equipment investment
• Majority of borrowers in rural areas and less developed regions
• First synthetic securitisation in Romania supporting financial services
• Supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe

The first cooperation between the EIB Group and Deutsche Leasing Romania will help to strengthen investment by Romanian companies active in sectors affected by COVID-19. The new cooperation between the European Investment Bank, European Investment Fund and Deutsche Leasing Romania will enable local companies across Romania to benefit from €370 million of additional leasing finance.

The EIB Group support is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI).

The new initiative will enhance the resilience of Romanian business to the economic, social and health impact of COVID-19 and is part of the EIB Group’s private sector response to the pandemic.

European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “Supported by the Investment Plan for Europe, this agreement between the EIB Group and Deutsche Leasing will make additional leasing financing available to local businesses in Romania. This will particularly help SMEs situated in rural areas to finance specialised equipment they need for their operations, and thus help sustain economic development and jobs in this difficult period.”

“Deutsche Leasing is present in Romania for more than 12 years and in this period has been the preferred financing partner of the local SMEs for equipment investments. Due to our specialization in agricultural equipment financing the majority of our borrowers are located in the rural areas and, through leasing and other financing solutions, we have brought our contribution to the development of these areas. The cooperation with such strong partners as the European Investment Bank and  European Investment Fund further strengthen Deutsche Leasing Romania’s capability to support local business investments effectively, even in this difficult times”, said Laurentiu Zaharia, General Manager of Deutsche Leasing Romania.

 “This high-impact securitisation transaction demonstrates the European Investment Bank Group’s commitment to ensuring that investment by SMEs across Europe can continue during challenging times. Innovative cooperation between European financial institutions and leasing local partners will help Romanian companies overcome COVID-19.” said Christian Kettel Thomsen, European Investment Bank Vice President responsible for Romania.

“The European Investment Fund is pleased to partner with Deutsche Leasing Romania for the first time. Together we will help to accelerate and scale up support for investment by hundreds of businesses across Romania.” said Alain Godard, CEO of the European Investment Fund.

This is the first synthetic securitisation transaction in Romania and enables the EIB Group to provide an alternative instrument for capital management for a financial services partner in the country. 

Securitisation will allow both regulatory capital relief and additional financing capacity for Deutsche Leasing Romania to support local business investment.

Helping business investment to reduce energy use and cut emissions

The new initiative includes €25 million targeted support for climate action investment.

Ensuring Romania benefits from the Investment Plan for Europe

This new support for local investment by Deutsche Leasing Romania is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe under which the EIB Group and the European Commission are working together to boost the competitiveness of the European economy.

Increased support for business investment in cohesion regions

The new scheme is part of a wider €2 billion EIB Group Asset-Backed Security financing programme to address the working capital, liquidity needs and investment challenges facing companies across Europe, and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This will target support to cohesion regions.

In recent weeks, the EIB Group has enabled increased financing for business investment across Romania in cooperation with leading local financial partners.

More than €185 million of COVID-19 private sector financing will support local companies through new European Investment Bank credit lines with public and private Romanian banks.

About Deutsche Leasing

The Deutsche Leasing Group is the leading solution-oriented asset finance partner for German SMEs and offers a broad range of investment-related financing solutions (asset finance) as well as supplementary services (asset services). Within Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, Deutsche Leasing is the centre of excellence for leasing and factoring and other SME-oriented asset finance solutions and supplementary services in Germany and other countries. In its international business segment, Deutsche Leasing supports its customers activities in 23 countries, including their core European export markets, as well as in China, Russia, the USA, Canada and Brazil.

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union (EU) owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals both in Europe and beyond.

About the European Investment Fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops both venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

About the European Fund for Strategic Investments

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. It provides first-loss guarantees enabling the EIB Group to invest in riskier projects. The projects and agreements approved for financing under EFSI have so far mobilised €535.4 billion in investment, benefitting over 1.4 million SMEs.