The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Polish company PKO Leasing signed a new agreement for almost €350 million of financing for Polish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This agreement is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe – the Juncker Plan– and COSME, the EU programme for the competitiveness of SMEs. The agreement will benefit 10.000 Polish SMEs; this is the largest ever EIF direct guarantee transaction in Poland under an EU financing programme...
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: "I'm excited that thanks to this new agreement and European Investment Fund direct guarantees, we will be able to support over 10.000 Polish SMEs and provide them with financing worth 1.5 billion PLN. Polish small and medium businesses are competitive and often what they need is just an additional boost to launch new products, expand beyond their local markets and develop their research and innovation capacity. This new EFSI-backed agreement will help them do just that. The Investment Plan for Europe is already expected to provide 43.000 Polish small businesses with better access to this European finance instrument and the new agreement will contribute further to this EU-Polish success story on the ground”. The Juncker Plan is now set to generate over €344 billion in investment across Europe, including €15 billion in Poland, and to support 787,000 businesses. A full press release is available here.