Romanian small businesses to benefit from new funding under the SME initiative

Today, the European Commission welcomes the signature of the funding agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and the Romanian Government, the first step in the implementation of the SME initiative in the country. The programme, worth €100 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and combined with additional resources from the EIB Group and Horizon 2020, will leverage almost €580 million of new loans for Romanian SMEs and start-ups. European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “Romanian SMEs are competitive and provide the vast majority of job opportunities in the country. They just need an additional boost to expand beyond their local markets and develop their research and innovation capacity. And the SME initiative will help them do just that.” Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu added:“I am proud to see Romania in the leading group of Member States implementing this Initiative and using the European Structural and Investment Funds in an innovative way. It is a concrete response to the challenges Romanian small businesses are currently facing.“