OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2014. The EBRD is helping to increase the flow of credit to larger corporate borrowers in Moldova with an innovative EUR10 million risk participation facility to support lending by Mobiasbanca - Groupe Societe Generale.

The new facility mechanism is similar to a guarantee whereby the EBRD will share up to 50 per cent of the risks associated with projects financed by the Moldovan bank.

As a result, Mobiasbanca will reduce its own risk exposure and increase the availability of larger, long-term loans to corporate clients.

Mobiasbanca has been active in reaching out to good-quality corporate borrowers. This latest project with the EBRD will enable it to make an even more significant impact on the Moldovan economy.

The EBRD and Mobiasbanca have been partners for many years. They have worked with various financing instruments aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and also covered sectors as energy efficiency and trade finance.

The risk-sharing facility will help promote best business practices on the part of Mobiasbanca clients, as the loans will comply with EBRD requirements for creditworthiness, integrity and environmental standards.

“We strongly appreciate our effective cooperation with Mobiasbanca. This latest example of our successful collaboration will make an important contribution to helping larger companies gain access to finance,” said EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti during a signing ceremony in the Moldovan capital of Chi?inau.

Ridha Tekaia, President of Mobiasbanca - Groupe Societe Generale, commented: “The signing of this agreement is further proof of our leadership in promoting new financial products, Mobiasbanca being the first bank on the Moldovan market to successfully launch a risk-participation facility. Our developing partnership with the EBRD allows us to support our clients and give them new opportunities for growth.”

Mobiasbanca is a universal commercial bank, serving over 106,000 active clients in the corporate, SME and retail sectors through a network of 56 branches. The bank is a subsidiary of Groupe Societe Generale SA, one of the leading financial institutions in Europe.

The EBRD is providing the EUR 10 million ‘unfunded risk participation’ for Mobiasbanca lending under the EBRD’s Medium-Sized Co-financing Facility (MCFF) which is designed to meet the financing needs of successful medium-sized private companies.

Since it started operations in Moldova, the EBRD has invested almost EUR 900 million in the country, across over 100 investments covering the energy, transport, agribusiness, general industry and banking sectors.