Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD is among the leading SME creditors. The credit portfolio of the bank for this segment till end of July 2005 is 243 mln BGN which is an increase of 68 per cent in comparison to the end of 2004. Only for the first 7 months of the year Raiffeisenbank lended over 111 mln BGN to small sized companies.

Raiffeisenbank offers investment and loans for turn over needs up to 10 years with no credit limit to small sized companies. Clients can apply for loans in all 65 offices of the bank with no requirements for a business plan. Real estates, vehicles, equipment, etc. can be used as collateral for the loan. The final approval is given within 5 working days from the deposing of the full amount of the required documents. The bank also offers loan with no collateral up to 10 000 BGN with interest rate of 12.9 per cent per year and an approval up to 24 hours.

This year Raiffeisenbank enriched the services offered to its clients with a specialized product for the purchase of agricultural equipment called Agrocredit, appropriate for the specific requirements of this kind of business. The loan is up to 120 000 Euro, with 5 years term and interest from 8 to 8.5 per cent, depending on the term.

Aiming to improve the access of small and medium sized companies and individuals to bank loans so that they can enlarge and modernize their business, Raiffeisenbank awarded 25 winners in the bank’s competition for the best investment project in the field of small sized companies “Initziativa 2005”. The total value of the given awards was 143 000 BGN.

Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD supports the development of small sized companies in Bulgaria in a cooperation with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Banking Group KfW.