OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2013. The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) – initiated by KfW Development Bank (KfW) with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Commission – and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement which provides EFSE with an additional funding of EUR 25 million.

The funds will facilitate more than 4,000 new loans to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the Fund’s target regions of South Eastern Europe and the European Eastern Neighbourhood Region.

The new capital commitment can be drawn upon in EUR as well as in USD, adding flexibility to the ways in which EFSE can achieve its mission to foster economic development and prosperity in its target region. The Fund at present has total committed capital of EUR 948 million.

Henry E. Russell, Director for , Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine at the EBRD Financial Institutions Group said: “We are pleased to continue and deepen our successful cooperation with EFSE with this new investment. We have been very impressed by the progress which has been achieved both with respect to the quality of EFSE’s portfolio and its continuing efforts to mobilise additional private sector funding. We are fully committed to further support these activities which play a crucial role for businesses and people in the region.”

“This investment in the future reinforces EFSE’s ability to ensure stable and reliable funding to existing and future partner lending institutions”, says Monika Beck, Chairperson of the Board of EFSE. “Thanks to the EBRD’s additional commitment, we can proceed with planning future investments and therefore optimise the development impact of the Fund.”