10 commercial banks are ready to grant loans guaranteed by BDB in support of business
13 май 2020
Bulgarian Development Bank will provide guarantees for companies experiencing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic
10 commercial banks have announced their participation in the portfolio guarantee program in support of micro, small and medium enterprises in Bulgaria. These are Allianz Bank, DSK Bank, the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank, Investbank, International Asset Bank, ProCredit Bank, First Investment Bank, Commercial Bank D, Unicredit Bulbank and Eurobank Bulgaria.
The guarantee program, which is part of the government's anti-crisis measures, has a budget of BGN 500 million. Companies from all sectors may be included in the program while it is expected to be most beneficial for companies from the most affected sectors - trade, services, transport and logistics, tourism, hotels and restaurants, and others.Pursuant to a Decision of the Council of Ministers, Bulgarian Development Bank provided commercial banks with the opportunity to use portfolio guarantees of BGN 1.6 billion, in order to guarantee loans granted to clients - SMEs in the amount of up to BGN 2 billion.
In order to apply for a loan, companies should meet one of the following conditions: a decrease in turnover after the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019; uncollected receivables from customers; unpaid amounts to suppliers after 1 March this year; canceled export contracts and terminated import deliveries from the beginning of the year; closed production facilities and offices, and reductions in the number of employees.
The deadline for applying under the measure for small and medium-sized enterprises is December 23, 2020. The loans that commercial banks will provide have a maximum amount of BGN 300,000, and BDB will provide guarantee cover of up to 80% of them. The banks themselves will determine the minimum and maximum repayment period. The grace period for newly granted loans will be up to 3 years.The program managed by Bulgarian Development Bank will include both new and existing loans, yet only in case the company has difficulties in servicing the loan after 31.12.2019 and is has not had arrears over 90 days for the last year.
The ten interested banks are about to sign their agreements with BDB and prepare their branch networks to work on the program.
