OREANDA-NEWS. December 19, 2012. The EBRD is continuing to secure financing for private businesses in Romania with a EUR 10 million loan to BT Leasing Transilvania IFN S.A., the leasing subsidiary of Banca Transilvania.

The financing will enable the company to further support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as Romania strives to restart and consolidate growth.

The loan will also foster the development of the leasing market in Romania, where limited external funding for non-bank financial institutions has historically led to constraints in supporting SMEs.

BT Leasing was set up in 1995 as Banca Transilvania – one of the key Romanian banks majority owned by local investors – diversified its products with the provision of leasing services, especially to SMEs.

“The EBRD remains committed to supporting the development of the Romanian leasing sector. With this new loan, the Bank is promoting leasing as a flexible alternative for SME finance, in a period when businesses remain vulnerable to persisting liquidity constraints,” said Noel Edison, EBRD Director for Insurance and Financial Services.

“We are already signing the third credit facility with EBRD, since the start of our collaboration in 2003. This new financing will allow BT Leasing to consolidate its position as an important provider of SME leasing in a challenging financial market,” said Titus Nicoara, General Manager of BT Leasing.

Since the beginning of its operations, the EBRD has invested about €6 billion in over 315 projects in Romania, mobilising over EUR 11 billion for the projects from other sources of financing.