OREANDA-NEWS. January 25, 2010. “This is a very good example of a crisis response of the Bank in the early transition countries (ETCs),” says Alex Tanase, the project’s operational leader. “Moldovan banks have become very prudent in extending new loans to their SME clients, especially since November 2008, so it was important for the Bank to react.”

The new credit line consists of medium to long-term foreign and domestic currency loans worth up to EUR1 million and serves to provide external financing to Moldovan private-sector SMEs in the current tight credit market. “The transaction demonstrates our commitment to support the real economy in Moldova,” says Tanase.

More concretely, the project has created some tangible results and 14 projects have already benefited from the first tranche of the Bank’s loan to MICB. An additional five SME projects will receive funds under the first tranche of the extended credit line in January 2010. To date the EBRD has committed approximately EUR 350 million in various sectors of the Moldovan economy and mobilized additional investments in excess of EUR 240 million.