PRIORITIES FOR ROMANIA The EBRD will continue to provide funding to energy, infrastructure and banking sectors

• The bank is also reviewing direct capital investments in Romanian companies, as well as agribusiness projects

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has a promising pipeline of projects for 2010 in Romania, including the financing of local Romanian and foreign companies, given the difficulties that some of these companies are facing with regard to access to funding. Claudia Pendred, the EBRD Director for Romania, said: "This year, EBRD will continue to focus on energy and infrastructure, at both the national and municipal level, and the banking sector, and will pay increasing attention to local companies, including in the agribusiness sector".

She said that the total amount of funding that the EBRD will grant this year in Romania will depend on identifying suitable projects. "For this reason, it is difficult to estimate the amounts the EBRD will invest in Romania in 2010, but I want to stress that the bank will fully support the Romanian economy, just as it did in 2009, in order to help it overcome this difficult period", said Mrs. Pendred.

In 2009, the EBRD made its first direct equity investment in a private Romanian company, Pehart Tec (a tissue paper producer), via a EUR 6 million share capital increase. The EBRD plans to pursue further equity investments in local companies in 2010.

• Loans worth EUR 720 million in 2009

In 2009, the EBRD committed to provide support to the Romanian economy in this economic environment. The bank signed over 20 transactions, worth over 720 million Euros, with over 85% of these funding going to the private sector, said Claudia Pendred: "2009 was a record year for the EBRD in Romania". Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the bank has invested in total over 4.4 billion Euros in the country.

In March 2009, as part of the financing agreement that Romania signed with the IMF and the European Union, the EBRD also committed to increase its investments in Romania to 1 billion Euros during 2009 and 2010. The EBRD Director for Romania said: "In 2009, we actively invested in energy and infrastructure projects, in order to help the Romanian economy get through this difficult period. For instance, we provided two loans to Petrom, one of EUR 200 million for a new state of the art 860MW combined cycle gas fired power plant and another loan of EUR 150 million to help the company enhance the environmental performance of its operations and increase energy efficiency. We also provided a EUR 80 million loan to the Turceni Energy Complex, for the modernisation of one of its lignite fired power plant units to meet EU standards. Other loans were provided to the municipalities of Arad and Brasov, which are looking to rehabilitate their transport infrastructure".

• 100 million Euros for SMEs

Romanian SMEs are particularly vulnerable during an economic downturn, so the EBRD provided some of the banks with SME loans in order to help them continue to finance small businesses. "Banca Transilvania" received 100 million Euros from the EBRD in December 2008, and BCR received the same amount in March 2009. Most of these funds have been onlent to the SME sector, said Claudia Pendred. What"s more, the EBRD recently participated in the share capital increase of ProCredit Bank, an institution specialising in lending to micro and small businesses.

Mrs. Pendred said: "We have introduced new financing instruments in order to help existing clients. One example is providing working capital loans for clients with revenues in RON, such as Lafarge Ciment Romania. We also provided capital to several companies in order to help them carry out their investment projects".

Mrs. Pendred also mentioned that in 2009, the EBRD provided 44 million Euros capital to Renault to help it invest in the testing center of Titu, and 40 million Euros to Kaufland, which needed the loan to expand its supermarket network in Romania.