Today, Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) hosted a regular meeting of the Competition and Development Policy Committee of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB). The meeting was attended by representatives of many similar financial institutions from European Union Member Countries.
EAPB represents around 100 financial institutions working for the economic sectors contributing to sustainable development.
Among the items discussed during the meeting was the recently launched Competition and Innovation Programme (CIP) of the European Union. Its aim is to facilitate access to funding for small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Community. It is a follow up to the Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, in which Bulgaria was included as a candidate member of the European Union. The new CIP provides guarantee schemes for the funding of small and medium enterprises with lower guarantee requirements, as well as resources for the establishment of risk capital funds. The total amount provided by CIP is 3.3 billion Euro for the duration of the programme.
Under this programme Bulgarian Development Bank (formerly Encouragement Bank) manages a guarantee line of 21 Million Euro for funding of SME’s under lowered requirements for guarantee to 85%.
