OREANDA-NEWS.  The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) approved a EUR 7.5 million loan to Garanti Leasing Romania for on-lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for financing the lease of capital goods. The term of the facility is five years.
 
“At a time when businesses continue to face limited access to financing mechanisms, leasing serves as an alternative funding source stimulating job creation and income generation.  We expect that the financing we are providing today will also contribute to the regional cooperation between Romania and Turkey, which is a BSTDB objective as a regional development bank”, said Mr. Nejdet Sarisozen, BSTDB Director for Financial Institutions.
 
“Three years ago we started focusing more on the corporate and SME segments, paying attention to our clients’ specific needs, so that we are able to offer the best finance options for their investments. The SME segment is a priority sector for the Romanian economy and these small and medium companies need proper sources of financing in order to obtain the flow of credit necessary to grow their businesses. Therefore, we are very glad to sign this partnership and help SMEs by improving their access to finance, especially since this project also benefits the development of the local economy”, stated Okan Yurtsever, General Manager Garanti Leasing.
 
BSTDB extended its first leasing facility in 2003 and since then has signed 16 leasing operations in the amount of EUR 103 million in Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia and Turkey. The operation increases the amount of signed leasing operations to over EUR 110 million.